Brew Crew Ball 2019-20 Offseason Plan Project

For the fourth year in a row, 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 a franchise-record $123 mil by Opening Day last season, but we can hopeful that a second-straight playoff berth and another year of strong attendance will convince ownership to invest even more money this winter. So I am optimistically setting the payroll limiting at $140 mil. As things stand right now, the Brewers are projected for roughly $87 mil in payroll for 2020. That means there should be plenty of space to make at least one splashy addition.

*MLB Trade Rumors has a list of the 2019-20 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.

• Jimmy Nelson – $3.7 mil
• Hernan Perez – $3.0 mil
• Corey Knebel – $5.125 mil
• Alex Claudio – $2.2 mil
• Travis Shaw – $4.7 mil
• Cory Spangenberg – $1.5 mil
• Zach Davies – $5.0 mil
• Junior Guerra – $3.5 mil
• Tyler Saladino – $1.0 mil
• Orlando Arcia – $2.7 mil
• Ben Gamel – $1.6 mil
• Brent Suter – $900K
• Tyler Austin – $1.2 mil
• Josh Hader – $4.6 mil

Explain the toughest calls if necessary:

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

• Yasmani Grandal ($16 mil mutual, $2.25 mil buyout)
• Mike Moustakas ($11 mil mutual, $3 mil buyout)
• Chase Anderson ($8.5 mil team, $500K buyout)
• Eric Thames ($7.5 mil team, $1 mil buyout)
• Manny Pina ($1.85 mil team, $150K buyout)

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

• Matt Albers: made $2.5 mil in 2019 (eligible for QO)
• Gio Gonzalez: made $2 mil plus incentives in 2019 (ineligible for QO)
• Jay Jackson: made league minimum in 2019 (eligible for QO)
• Drew Pomeranz: made $1.5 mil in 2019 (ineligible for QO)
• Jordan Lyles: made $2.05 mil in 2019 (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. Gerrit Cole (7 years, $245 mil). The Brewers need pitching now more than ever and have plenty of payroll available. So why not sign the man who was arguably the best pitcher in baseball in 2019?

Trades

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

1. Brewers trade Corbin Burnes, Brice Turang, Trent Grisham, Aaron Ashby, and a PTBNL to Dodgers for Corey Seager. Orlando Arcia has failed to live up to expectations in his parts of four seasons with Milwaukee, so let’s upgrade the position by dealing for Seager, a star shortstop with two years of club control remaining at arbitration salaries that will remain a bit deflated thanks to his previous injury.

Summary

If you end up with a complete, rock solid 26-man roster under the new rules, feel free to list it with as much detail as you can. The more in-depth, the better. Our beloved Menomonee Valley Nine has now made the postseason for two years in a row but will need to reload the roster with talent if they want to get over the hump and into the World Series in 2020. Remember that you are under a payroll constraint, however.

For some, part of the game might be trying to guess as much of the 2020 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!