Brew Crew Ball 2018-19 Offseason Plan Project

For the third straight year, Brew Crew Ball is borrowing the idea for the “Offseason Plan Project” from our friends over at South Side Sox. We always get a great response from you all, so it was a no-brainer to reprise the project once again this winter. After all, you all are intelligent, dedicated fans with a good working knowledge of the organization.

So once again, here is your mission, should you choose to accept it:

*Copy and paste the template into a FanPost. If you’ve never written a FanPost, you’ll have the option if you’re a registered member of Brew Crew Ball. Once logged in, CTRL-F “Write a FanPost” or “Post your own” and you should be in the editor and ready to write.

*Cot’s Baseball Contracts has the Brewers’ payroll obligations. The Brewers upped their payroll to nearly $100 mil last year, which is around where their top-level mark has historically been. But given last year’s success and run deep into the postseason, we can be hopeful that the team has a bit more money to play with this winter. So I’m setting the payroll limit at $125 mil. As things stand right now, the Brewers are projected for close to $110 mil in payroll for 2018. That means you might have to get creative in order to make any big additions.

*MLB Trade Rumors has a list of the 2018-19 MLB free agents. The deadline for contract options to be exercised has already passed, so everyone on the list is legitimately a free agent.

Start here, be creative, and have fun!

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[Insert your name]’s Offseason Plan

Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):

Write “tender” or “non-tender” after each of the following names. You can also trade a player before or after tendering a contract.

• Jonathan Schoop - $10.1 mil
• Travis Shaw - $5.1 mil
• Corey Knebel - $4.9 mil
• Jeremy Jeffress - $4.8 mil (also has contract option)
• Jimmy Nelson - $3.7 mil
• Stephen Vogt - $3.065 mil
• Hernan Perez - $2.7 mil
• Junior Guerra -$2.7 mil
• Zach Davies - $2.4 mil
• Domingo Santana - $2.4 mil
• Manny Pina - $1.8 mil
• Erik Kratz - $1.7 mil
• Dan Jennings - $1.6 mil
• Xavier Cedeno - $1.5 mil
• Tyler Saladino - $1 mil

Explain the toughest calls if necessary:

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

• Joakim Soria: $10 mil mutual option ($1 mil buyout)
• Mike Moustakas: $15 mil mutual option ($1 mil buyout)
• Jordan Lyles: $3.5 mil team option ($250K buyout)
• Jeremy Jeffress: $3.175 mil team option (if declined, he opts into arbitration)

Impending free agents (re-sign, let go or qualifying offer)

• Wade Miley: made $2.5 mil plus incentives in 2018 (eligible for QO)
• Gio Gonzalez: made $12 mil in 2018 (ineligible for QO)
• Curtis Granderson: made $5 mil in 2018 (ineligible for QO)

Elaborate if needed:

Free agents

Peruse the list of potential free agents and name one, two, or more that you would pursue, the maximum offer that you would extend to them, and a brief explanation. An example:

#1: Patrick Corbin (5 year, $125 mil). Some fans in Milwaukee continue their clamoring for an ace, and Patrick Corbin is the best free agent starter available coming off the top season of his career in Arizona.

Trades

Propose a trade or two or several that you think sound reasonable for both sides, and the rationale behind them. Example:

#1: Trade Keston Hiura, Corey Ray, and Tristen Lutz to Miami for JT Realmuto. Why not make it two years in a row trading for a star player from the Marlins? Realmuto is arguably the best all-around catcher in the game and his right-handed bat and two more years of inexpensive club control would fit nicely in Milwaukee.

Try and stay objective when proposing these trades, don’t be too outrageous and try and keep the value similar on both sides. I’m hoping to see some realistic ideas.

Summary

If you end up with a complete, rock solid 25-man roster, feel free to list it with as much detail as you can. The more in-depth, the better. Our beloved Menomonee Valley Nine was one game away from making the World Series, but there are still holes to be addressed in order to get over the hump next season. They could probably use a right-handed bat or two, some help on the infield and maybe behind the plate, and of course there’s always room for more pitching depth. Remember that you are under a payroll constraint, however.

For some, part of the game might be trying to guess as much of the 2018 roster as possible. Really though, you don’t need to be a comprehensive roster architect to participate. You might have one idea that gets people talking, and that’s just as worth it. You can also borrow ideas if you like them to fill out your plan, because I’m also interested in which players are the most popular for potential solutions.

The point of this project is to survey the community and consider as many realistic players and angles as possible before the Brewers start making the moves that count.

Have fun and I’m looking forward to seeing what y’all can come up with!