MLB 2017 Season

[#UnleashSean]

"Really, really good" teams do not go cold for an entire season. Not with a 162 game schedule.

What? They do all the time. See -> Giants

[Jockey]

What? They do all the time. See -> Giants

Look at their roster. If you think that is a very good team, you need to bone up on baseball.

[#UnleashSean]

Look at their roster. If you think that is a very good team, you need to bone up on baseball.

2016   League Divisional Series   L
2014   World Series   W
2012   World Series   W
2010   World Series   W

????????????????????????

[🏀]

$14.5 million is signing bonuses spent on rookies.  So $68.5 million is more accurate of what the major league  payroll is.  That also accounts for "buried" minor league salaries and deferred money.  Active payroll is $57.5 million.

So the payroll for 2017 is not $60m, thanks for further clarification.

Doesn't matter anyway.

[MerrittsMustache]

Regardless of how the remainder of this season goes, the Brewers will be interesting to watch next season. I don't necessarily think of the Brewers as being "ahead of schedule" on the rebuild. They look more like a "lightning in a bottle" team this season.

Aside from Arcia, Santana and possibly Villar, most of the regular position players aren't exactly centerpieces of the rebuild. Braun is 33 and in decline. Time will tell is Travis Shaw is for real. Thames and Pina are having career years at age 30. Same with Sogard (age 31) who has cooled off considerably. Broxton is 27 and hitting under .200 since late May. Aguilar's also 27 and had basically been a career minor leaguer. Brinson and Phillips have a lot of potential but neither appeared to be all that close to MLB-ready. The average age of the Brewers' regulars this season is 27.4. By comparison, Ben Zobrist (36) is the only Cubs regular over 27 and that doesn't even include Happ (22) or Baez (24).

As far a pitching, Davies has looked solid, especially at age 24, Woodruff obviously has potential and Knebel and Hader have been great on the back-end of the pen but Nelson and Anderson are in their late 20s and having far and away their best seasons. Are they going to keep that up? Both had FIPs near 4.50 coming into this year. Suter could be a late-bloomer or he could be a guy who got it together for an extended stretch. The Brewers are 5th in the NL with a 4.05 ERA but the team FIP is a league-average 4.33. In fact, no NL team has a higher differential between ERA and FIP than the Brewers.

I'm not attempting to downplay the Brewers' success this year. They're a fun team who's had an excellent, unexpected season and they have a legit chance to win the division. I just don't view this season as Step One in their run of perennial contention.

[#UnleashSean]

Regardless of how the remainder of this season goes, the Brewers will be interesting to watch next season. I don't necessarily think of the Brewers as being "ahead of schedule" on the rebuild. They look more like a "lightning in a bottle" team this season.

Aside from Arcia, Santana and possibly Villar, most of the regular position players aren't exactly centerpieces of the rebuild. Braun is 33 and in decline. Time will tell is Travis Shaw is for real. Thames and Pina are having career years at age 30. Same with Sogard (age 31) who has cooled off considerably. Broxton is 27 and hitting under .200 since late May. Aguilar's also 27 and had basically been a career minor leaguer. Brinson and Phillips have a lot of potential but neither appeared to be all that close to MLB-ready. The average age of the Brewers' regulars this season is 27.4. By comparison, Ben Zobrist (36) is the only Cubs regular over 27 and that doesn't even include Happ (22) or Baez (24).

As far a pitching, Davies has looked solid, especially at age 24, Woodruff obviously has potential and Knebel and Hader have been great on the back-end of the pen but Nelson and Anderson are in their late 20s and having far and away their best seasons. Are they going to keep that up? Both had FIPs near 4.50 coming into this year. Suter could be a late-bloomer or he could be a guy who got it together for an extended stretch. The Brewers are 5th in the NL with a 4.05 ERA but the team FIP is a league-average 4.33. In fact, no NL team has a higher differential between ERA and FIP than the Brewers.

I'm not attempting to downplay the Brewers' success this year. They're a fun team who's had an excellent, unexpected season and they have a legit chance to win the division. I just don't view this season as Step One in their run of perennial contention.

Come on now, Markus Howard is older then Davies.

[Benny B]

AND they could pay up.  The Brewers had a Top 10 payroll as recently as 2012.

Yeah... that's a once-in-a-while deal right there; hell, Miami was #7 in 2012 and #29 in 2013.  You want to name a team that could pay up, there you go.

BTW - Brewers ended 2012 (40-man) in 14th place.  With exception of being in dead-last in 2016 and 23rd in 2015, since 2007 the Brewers have ended the year with a 40-man payroll ranked between 13th and 20th.

[LAZER]

2016   League Divisional Series   L
2014   World Series   W
2012   World Series   W
2010   World Series   W

????????????????????????

SF batting is awful, starting pitching isn't very good, bullpen isn't good, and their usual league-best defense is average this year.

Even over the last 5 years, while SF has had huge postseason success, their rosters have never really been THAT great.

[BM1090]

I do know the facts, the payroll is currently almost $83 million. Opening Day is different.

http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/payroll/

You're technically correct. But isn't that only because the roster just expanded to 40 players? 15 extra salaries. The Walker and Swarzak trades make a difference as well

I admit I might be misunderstanding.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Brewers announce Sept. 22 game vs #Cubs at Miller Park will start at 6:35 pm CT, not 7:10 pm CT

This is outrageous!  I am outraged!!

[cheebs09]

Brewers announce Sept. 22 game vs #Cubs at Miller Park will start at 6:35 pm CT, not 7:10 pm CT

This is outrageous!  I am outraged!!

Fairly different reasons for the time change. This is TV driven.

[wadesworld]

Brewers announce Sept. 22 game vs #Cubs at Miller Park will start at 6:35 pm CT, not 7:10 pm CT

This is outrageous!  I am outraged!!

That was cute.  The Brewers had absolutely no say in it.

But hey, you tried.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Fairly different reasons for the time change. This is TV driven.

I know.  Just being sarcastic - doesn't bother me at all.  Nor would it have bothered me if it was an identical situation to last week. 

That was cute.  The Brewers had absolutely no say in it.

But hey, you tried.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Regardless of how the remainder of this season goes, the Brewers will be interesting to watch next season. I don't necessarily think of the Brewers as being "ahead of schedule" on the rebuild. They look more like a "lightning in a bottle" team this season.

Aside from Arcia, Santana and possibly Villar, most of the regular position players aren't exactly centerpieces of the rebuild. Braun is 33 and in decline. Time will tell is Travis Shaw is for real. Thames and Pina are having career years at age 30. Same with Sogard (age 31) who has cooled off considerably. Broxton is 27 and hitting under .200 since late May. Aguilar's also 27 and had basically been a career minor leaguer. Brinson and Phillips have a lot of potential but neither appeared to be all that close to MLB-ready. The average age of the Brewers' regulars this season is 27.4. By comparison, Ben Zobrist (36) is the only Cubs regular over 27 and that doesn't even include Happ (22) or Baez (24).

As far a pitching, Davies has looked solid, especially at age 24, Woodruff obviously has potential and Knebel and Hader have been great on the back-end of the pen but Nelson and Anderson are in their late 20s and having far and away their best seasons. Are they going to keep that up? Both had FIPs near 4.50 coming into this year. Suter could be a late-bloomer or he could be a guy who got it together for an extended stretch. The Brewers are 5th in the NL with a 4.05 ERA but the team FIP is a league-average 4.33. In fact, no NL team has a higher differential between ERA and FIP than the Brewers.

I'm not attempting to downplay the Brewers' success this year. They're a fun team who's had an excellent, unexpected season and they have a legit chance to win the division. I just don't view this season as Step One in their run of perennial contention.

Nice summary.  The Brewers have had a great season and have a ton of potential moving forward but there are still plenty of questions moving forward.

The Cubs have had a disappointing season and have some work to do next season in the rotation and the bullpen but I fully expect some of their young hitters that have struggled at times to improve and become more consistent. 

Although Heyward may be a lost cause at this point, which is bewildering and damaging. 

[wadesworld]

I know.  Just being sarcastic - doesn't bother me at all.  Nor would it have bothered me if it was an identical situation to last week. 

Yeah, like I said, it was cute.  Good job.

[Jockey]

Indians on verge of having highest WAR for pitching staff in MLB history. Their worst pitcher is -0.1 WAR. And, he has only pitched 24 innings.

Now they add Salazar to the pen  - along with Miller and Allen. Gonna be hard to beat.

[🏀]

Did anyone really think the Cubs were going to repeat?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Yeah, like I said, it was cute.  Good job.

You're my favorite, Wades. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Did anyone really think the Cubs were going to repeat?

No, but I'd at least like to get there and see what happens.  I'm not spending a sh*tload of money splitting season tix for my health. 

[WI inferiority Complexes]

Did anyone really think the Cubs were going to repeat?

Why can't they repeat?

I understand they haven't played up to potential, but they're in first place on September 13.  They certainly have a chance to win the WS again.

[StillAWarrior]

I've got tickets to the Indians game tomorrow night.  Could be kind of cool.  Knocking on wood.  Paper.  Glass.  Skin.  Bone.  Basically, knocking on everything in my general proximity.

[#UnleashSean]

Brewers announce Sept. 22 game vs #Cubs at Miller Park will start at 6:35 pm CT, not 7:10 pm CT

This is outrageous!  I am outraged!!

I'm kind of mad. I have tickets but won't be able to make it for the 1st now.

[Lennys Tap]

Did anyone really think the Cubs were going to repeat?

Since they were (by far) the favorite in Vegas, yeah. In fact, many more people thought it than thought any other team would win.

[MUBBau]

Marlins v Brewers series moved to Milwaukee this weekend!

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Marlins v Brewers series moved to Milwaukee this weekend!

Now this I absolutely have an issue with.