Brad’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 - Non-tender
• Corey Knebel – $5.125 mil - Tender
• Alex Claudio – $2.2 mil - Tender
• Travis Shaw – $4.7 mil - Tender
• Zach Davies – $5.0 mil - Tender
• Junior Guerra – $3.5 mil - Tender
• Tyler Saladino – $1.0 mil - Tender
• Orlando Arcia – $2.7 mil - Non-tender
• Ben Gamel – $1.6 mil - Tender
• Brent Suter – $900K - Tender
• Josh Hader – $4.6 mil - Tender

Explain the toughest calls if necessary:

I know that we all want Jimmy Nelson to return to his 2017 form, but I don’t see that happening in 2020. Instead of carrying his $4 million salary, drop him and let him sign a deal with a team that has the time for him to bring himself back up to par.

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

• Matt Albers: made $2.5 mil in 2019 (eligible for QO) - Bye
• Gio Gonzalez: made $2 mil plus incentives in 2019 (ineligible for QO) - Bye
• Jay Jackson: made league minimum in 2019 (eligible for QO) - Bye
• Drew Pomeranz: made $1.5 mil in 2019 (ineligible for QO) - Yes, 2 years, $16 mil
• Jordan Lyles: made $2.05 mil in 2019 (ineligible for QO) - Yes, 1 year, $5 mil

Elaborate if needed:

Free agents

1. Yasmani Grandal (3 years, $55 mil, 4th year option of $17 mil). Grandal is amazing, but he’s not really any better than he’s ever been. Look at his previous years and this season is pretty much in line with his career. Being the best all-around catcher in baseball before didn’t get him a record deal and I don’t see that changing. Not having a QO on him will make it more likely that he gets a multi-year deal, but the price isn’t skyrocketing. He gets a bit of a raise, a multi-year deal and a fourth year team option.
2. Zack Wheeler, RHP (4 years, $72 mil). FINALLY, the Brewers pay for a pitcher. Wheeler is a great add to the starting staff. As a number two to Woodruff, he’ll be a great compliment to the rotation.
3. Jose Iglesias, SS (2 years, $10 mil). The Brewers need to improve at shortstop. Iglesias isn’t amazing, but he’s better than Arcia. While I can see the Brewers betting one more season on Orlando, it’d be much easier to just move on now.
4. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, 1B (3 years, $21 mil with 4th year $7 mil option) I have no idea if that’s enough or too much to sign Tsutsugo. While I’m familiar with his value, the Japan market has never been something I’ve been skilled at guessing. But David Stearns reaching into the foreign market to bring back a power first baseman in his prime that ends up out-producing his contracts sounds like the most Stearns thing I could dream up.

Trade

1. Brewers send Trent Grisham and Trey Supak to the Yankees for Miguel Andujar. Gio Urshela seems to fit better at 3B for the Yankees than the mashing Andujar. Miguel is coming off a serious injury and the Yankees need to fill a spot in the outfield. While I hate to see Grish go, each team gets a great young talent. Yankees get an extra year of control because they give up more offense. And yes, Andujar does have abysmal defense. Word on the street is that he put a lot of work into that and changed his throwing mechanics to toe the line at “adequate.” That’s part of the gamble.

Summary

Lineup:

Lorenzo Cain, CF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Christian Yelich, RF
Keston Hiura, 2B
Miguel Andujar, 3B
Ryan Braun, LF
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, 1B
José Iglesias, SS

Rotation:

Brandon Woodruff, RHP
Zach Davies, RHP
Adrian Houser, RHP
Zack Wheeler, RHP
Jordan Lyles, RHP

Bench:

Travis Shaw, IF
Tyler Saladino, IF
Ben Gamel, OF
Manny Piña, C

Bullpen:

Josh Hader, LHP
Corey Knebel, RHP
Drew Pomeranz, LHP
Junior Guerra, RHP
Brent Suter, LHP
Alex Claudio, LHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
Jake Faria, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP

Estimated Payroll: $139,575,000