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Jonathan Lucroy has been a member of the Milwaukee Brewers since he entered the league in 2010, but the team may trade him this offseason.

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Teams ‘Listening’ to Lucroy Offers

Monday, Dec. 7

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed that teams are interested in the catcher and listening to potential offers, and he pointed to his contract ($4 million in 2016 and a $5.5 million club option in 2017) as a major reason why. However, Rosenthal noted there is more than just a team-friendly deal that makes Lucroy so attractive:   

Lucroy only played 103 games last season because of various physical setbacks and hit .264 with seven home runs and 43 RBI. It was a far cry from his impressive 2014 campaign, when he appeared in 153 contests and hit .301 with 13 home runs, 69 RBI and an OPS of .838.

He drilled double-digit long-ball totals in the previous four seasons before 2015 and adds proven pop to any order, especially for a catcher.

What’s more, Lucroy is only 29 years old and theoretically has a couple of years of prime production remaining. That, along with the contract during that span, makes him intriguing for teams prepared to enter the pennant chase in 2016.

One potential area of concern is the fact he only threw out 25.7 percent of potential base stealers in the first six years of his career, per ESPN.com. However, he is responsible for plus-11 total defensive runs saved above average as a catcher throughout his MLB tenure, according to FanGraphs, and he also has experience at first base under his belt.

Given his age, relatively solid numbers in the field and offensive ability at a position that isn’t known for producing tons of power hitters in today’s game, Lucroy is an attractive trade target for teams as the MLB winter meetings continue to heat up.

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Coming off a 94-loss season and needing to build their team from the bottom up, the Milwaukee Brewers could make Adam Lind available to teams in need of an offensive upgrade at first base or designated hitter. 

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Heavy Interest in Lind

Friday, Nov. 20

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, citing a source, there is “lots of activity” on Lind right now with American League teams showing interest as a possible DH. 

Lind is coming off back-to-back solid seasons with Toronto in 2014 and Milwaukee in 2015, posting a .293/.367/.467 slash line with 26 home runs in 245 games. The 32-year-old is entering the final year of his contract, making a reasonable $8 million salary, per Spotrac. 

The main concern with Lind is he’s best used in a platoon situation. He’s been terrific against right-handers, both last year and throughout his career, but struggles mightily against southpaws. 

The Brewers have every incentive to trade Lind at this point. He’s still a productive player who can net a decent return given his limited skill set, and the front office has already thrown up the “For Sale” sign after dealing Francisco Rodriguez to Detroit earlier in the week. 

Given Lind’s contract and the number of teams looking for offense this winter, the Brewers have a strong secondary trade option who will appeal to every team because his salary is so low and any interested team only has to pay him for one more year. 

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The Houston Astros announced on Thursday they have traded infielder Jonathan Villar to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league pitcher Cy Sneed. 

Villar, who appeared primarily at third base and shortstop last season, completed just his third year in the majors in 2015. The 24-year-old batted .284 with two home runs, 11 RBI and seven stolen bases in 53 games. 

But with American League rookie of the year Carlos Correa at shortstop and 25 home run hitter Luis Valbuena at third, Houston’s left side of the infield looks set for some time, making Villar a trade option.

According to the Houston Chronicle‘s Jose de Jesus Ortiz, Villar’s time with the Astros just ran out:

Milwaukee, though, was in need of some infield help. With shortstop Jean Segura possibly on the trade block, per NBCSports.com’s Craig Calcaterra, and the Brewers not getting much from the third base position last season—as they started four different players—Villar’s acquisition could turn out to be a crucial get. 

The Astros will receive right-hander Cy Sneed, who pitched in two different levels of A-ball and held a 2.58 ERA despite a 6-11 overall record, per MiLB.com. 

He’s already trying to acclimate to his new home:

While Villar might be seeing regular playing time next season, possibly starting at third base, Sneed most likely won’t be making the jump to the majors any time soon. But dealing an expendable piece of the infield for a young arm that is still impressionable certainly won’t hurt the Astros. 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com

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Milwaukee Brewers fans didn’t think the 2015 season could get any worse, but any remaining optimism surrounding the team dwindled Monday with news that Ryan Braun is set for offseason surgery.

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Braun Waiting to Have Procedure to Heal Injured Back

Monday, Sept. 21

Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel couldn’t provide specifics on the type of surgery or how long Braun’s recovery might be but confirmed the All-Star outfielder will go under the knife at the close of the campaign.

The 2011 National League MVP has had a strong season at the plate, hitting .287 with 25 home runs, 84 runs batted in and 24 stolen bases. As MLB Stat of the Day noted, Braun could pull off the first 30-30 season since 2012, when both he and Mike Trout reached the mark.

Nobody expects Braun to match the production from his prime years of 2009 to 2012, but this season has shown he can remain a valuable member of the Brewers going forward.

With that said, one of the concerns about Braun is his inability to stay healthy. He missed 36 games in 2013 before his Biogenesis suspension and then played in 135 games in 2014. He also played part of the season with a nerve issue in his hand.

Although Braun has, for the most part, avoided any major injuries in 2015, the specter of surgery in the fall will loom large.

Perhaps the procedure will allow Braun to be 100 percent when spring training begins next year. Since the Brewers are set for another rebuilding year in 2016, having Braun in the lineup would at least give fans something to look forward to next season.

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The Milwaukee Brewers announced Monday that David Stearns would be taking over as general manager, per the team’s official Twitter account:

Stearns, 30, becomes the league’s youngest general manager, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. He is taking over for Doug Melvin, “who is transitioning to an advisory role with the Brewers after serving as the team’s GM since 2002.”  

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports doesn’t think Stearns’ age is any cause for concern:

He’ll certainly have his work cut out for him. The Brewers are currently 63-86 and in last place in the NL Central. Only the Philadelphia Phillies (56-94) and the Atlanta Braves (60-90) have been worse in the National League this year. 

Jim Bowden of ESPN.com thinks he’s up for the task:

The Brewers are clearly in a rebuilding, transitioning phase, so hiring a smart, young general manager to lead them into a new era is a savvy move. Stearns is respected around the league and should have a long future in the game, so the Brewers will be hoping they have MLB‘s next great GM in the building for a long time.

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Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson suffered a head injury after being hit by a line drive against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night and is currently in the hospital.

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Nelson’s Next Start in Question

Friday, Sept. 18

Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reported Nelson will remain in the hospital for the second-straight night while recovering from being hit by a line drive in the head Thursday night. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Nelson is already raring to go, but the team will wait 48 hours before deciding if he can make his next start on Tuesday.

According to D.J. Short of NBC Sports’ Hardball Talk, Nelson was hit on the right side of the head by a line drive off the bat of the Cardinals’ Tommy Pham in the top of the third inning.

MLB.com provided video of the play:

According to Short, the exit velocity of the ball when it left Pham’s bat was 108 mph. Nelson fell face down onto the mound, where he remained for a moment before rising to his knees. He was able to walk off the field.

Milwaukee third baseman Elian Herrera had to retrieve the ball after it hit Nelson. Herrera commented on his mindset, per McCalvy: “Really, really scary for me. What I saw was the ball hit right in his face. I worry for all my teammates, and when something like that happens, I was just praying for him to be OK.” 

He wasn’t the only one worried. Pham barely remembered to run, as relayed by McCalvy: “Line drive like that and you see it go off his head, the first thing that went through my head was if he was all right. I had to kind of remind myself to run. That’s the first time that’s happened to me. It is kind of a big shocker.”

Entering the game, Nelson was 11-12 this season with a 3.95 ERA on a struggling Brewers team unfortunate enough to compete in one of the best divisions in baseball, the National League Central.

Numbers aside, situations like these are certainly unnerving for pitchers and players alike around MLB. It’s promising to see that Nelson was responding well while leaving the park in what was a scary few moments on the mound.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The Milwaukee Brewers have been without a general manager for roughly a month after relieving Doug Melvin of his duties in August. After conducting a lengthy search, the franchise may be zeroing in on a top candidate.

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Brewers Targeting Oakland A’s Assistant General Manager

Thursday, Sept. 10

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported on Thursday that the Brewers have Dan Kantrovitz at the top of their GM wish list. Kantrovitz has spent roughly a year in Oakland’s front office after departing from the St. Louis Cardinals, for whom he served as the director of amateur scouting.

Dan Szymborski of ESPN.com views Kantrovitz as a strong option for Milwaukee to consider:

Somebody like Kantrovitz makes a lot of sense for the Brewers. While their minor league system is improving, Baseball Prospectus ranked it No. 26 to start the 2015 season. Baseball America was slightly higher on Milwaukee but still ranked it No. 19.

Back in April, BP’s Matthew Trueblood wrote a good analysis of how Melvin essentially kicked the can down the road in an effort to keep the Brewers contending in the present. Prospects were leveraged for ready-made veterans at the trade deadline, and the team overspent on free agents in the offseason.

As the standings would attest to—Milwaukee is 61-78, fourth in the National League Central entering Thursday night—the franchise needs to blow up the roster and start from scratch.

In an interview with FanGraphs’ David Laurila, Kantrovitz explained his beliefs on the MLB draft and its importance toward team-building:

We view the draft as a mechanism to save money. That may seem counter intuitive – it’s a spending environment – but it’s arguably the best bang for your buck in any area of procurement. The more you spend on the draft, assuming it’s a disciplined approach, the more our club might be able to save down the road in the free-agent market.

That kind of attitude is what Milwaukee needs.

It might be inaccurate to call the Brewers a small-market team, but the best way for them to contend in the future is by identifying cost-controlled talent through the draft.

Of course, Milwaukee hasn’t hired Kantrovitz yet, but if he at least represents the general direction in which ownership wants to go, the fanbase should feel good about the Brewers’ long-term future.

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Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun hit a fifth-inning grand slam in Sunday’s 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, tying Robin Yount at 251 homers for first place on the all-time franchise list, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Braun finished his day with just the one hit in four at-bats, but he did pick up another RBI on a groundout in the first inning.

Now sitting at 21 home runs with a .272/.340/.491 batting line for the season, the 31-year-old outfielder is having a great campaign by the standards of most players, yet his production has arguably been somewhat disappointing for a second straight year.

After posting an OPS above .860 in each of his first seven big league seasons, Braun had a .777 mark in 2014 and is now at .831 in 2015.

Still the centerpiece of a respectable Milwaukee lineup, Braun has fallen from superstar status since memorably being suspended for performance-enhancing drugs in 2013. He is instead settling in as merely a very good player.

There was still little question that he’d eventually set the all-time franchise record for home runs, and it now seems likely the record will be his alone at some point within the next week or two.

With his contract running through 2021, Braun will also have plenty of time to pad his lead over Yount, potentially even crossing the 400- or 500-homer mark in a Milwaukee uniform some day.

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After 13 years as the Milwaukee Brewers general manager, Doug Melvin is set to transition to an advisory role within the front office.  

The organization announced the move Tuesday on its official Twitter account. The Brew Crew will begin to search for a new GM, although it is unclear who is in the running at this point.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, though, Milwaukee is expected to place a great deal of emphasis on analytics during the interviewing process:

Melvin seemed content with the opportunity to remain with the Brewers in some capacity, and he revealed that a plan has been in place to make a change since early in the 2015 campaign, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

We’re trying to be ahead of the rumors and speculation. At some point there has to be a transition from [owner] Mark [Attanasio]‘s standpoint and for myself.

I think it’s time to start thinking about giving Mark the opportunity finding his next generation of a general manager. I love what I’m doing; I love Milwaukee. I’d like to see this through as much as I can and get back to playoff baseball. In May, we sort of came to an agreement. It’s a transition for me and my life and a transition that Mark will have to undertake, also.

The 63-year-old Canadian has led the Brewers to a pair of playoff appearances during his tenure, including a trip to the National League Championship Series in 2011.

Milwaukee hasn’t reached the playoffs since then, though, and is currently a disappointing 48-65 in 2015, which is the third-worst mark in the NL.

Melvin’s final big move as Brewers general manager came prior to the deadline when he traded outfielder Carlos Gomez and starting pitcher Mike Fiers to the Houston Astros in exchange for four prospects.

The Brewers are counting on the continued development of their farm system to lead them back to contention, and if the organization is able to land a new-age general manager who understands how to take advantage of trends and statistics, then Melvin may very well have left them in good shape with regard to a return to prominence.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

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The Chicago Cubs walked into a buzz saw against the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. 

The Brewers cranked out a 6-1 spanking of the Cubbies—a five-run deficit that could’ve been cut down if not for a comedy of errors and casual defense on the part of Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo.

Brewers outfielder Logan Schafer hit a routine bouncer to short that was fielded by Castro. The shortstop had an easy out in his crosshairs but botched the throw to Rizzo at first. Assuming Schafer would run cautiously, Rizzo took his time gathering the ball and panicked when the baserunner turned for third.

Rizzo overthrew the ball, and Schafer ended up making it to the dish for a “Little League” home run. 

Dan is on Twitter. Little league home runs are still home runs.

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