Brewers' Shouldn't Waste Assets On An Ultimately Meaningless Season
Yeah, this is probably going to sound pessimistic. Maybe even straight up negative. But I don't care, because this is what I believe.
What should a team do, that is 3 games ahead in their division over the defending World Series Champions, a 5 game lead (after tonight) over a perennial pest, that is at least a year ahead of schedule? Does making a run at a World Series title really make sense, or even one that could bump up the chances at a postseason? Did we even think this to be conceivable prior to the season?
The answer is stand pat, and don't buy anything. What good did trading for Tyler Webb do? It likely resulted in losing a very good player, and two games at this point. What would a reliever like Pat Neshek from Philadelphia really accomplish? He'd save a few more eighth innings, and we'd lose 2-3 guys amongst our top 15 prospects. Would JA Happ really be worth one season, maybe a few more good innings than Junior Guerra or Matt Garza, only to still be outmatched by a Max Scherzer or Zack Greinke? Because if we make the postseason, we will play the Nationals or the Diamondbacks (both of those teams have solidified themselves as the East division leader and first wild card, respectively), meaning we'll play Scherzer or Greinke right out of the gate.
Honestly, is winning two-three more games and hoping the Cubs don't catch us too fast or the Rockies fall off just enough worth giving up two-three more good prospects, better prospects than Cooper? Not for this season. Because, we won't be able to get the pitching to stop the Nationals in a seven game series, and even if we beat the Diamondbacks in the one game playoff, the Dodgers are the best team in baseball. We aren't winning the World Series with this team of misfit toys that David Stearns has collected, and we'd be lucky to win two games.
The only move out there that makes any sense is trading for Sonny Gray of Oakland, because he'll be around in the future. But, there are two caveats with Gray. He might not stick around after 2019, especially for an affordable price, and he has had injury problems lately. But, he will be around next year and the year after, when our excellent farm system arrives. The added bonus shouldn't be that he'll be more than a rental, the added bonus is he'll help the current Brewers team.
It's just a matter of time before the law of averages pushes the Cubs ahead of the Brewers, and possibly the Cardinals (and maybe Pirates) too, and we really can't acquire enough to stop it without totally mortgaging our farm again. Selling some of the better players on this roster is too pessimistic, but maybe seeing what Jared Hughes, Keon Broxton or role player can get isn't a bad idea. Maybe we can sell "high" on Matt Garza.
I'm not saying give up, I'm just preparing for the very, very realistic possibility that this team has been playing way too good for what it actually is. I mean, c'mon, Chase Anderson an ace? Eric Thames is a bust outside of April. Is Manny Pina really a long term catcher? Junior Guerra, Jonathan Villar, Zach Davies, Carlos Torres and Keon Broxton all have regressed.
We've been due for a major hiccup for about two months now, and I hate to say it, but we still need to just look forward to next season and hope our house money doesn't run out before the end of 2017. I'm just saying.
