Brewers continue to look for additions after quiet winter meetings

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – During his two-plus years as general manager of the rebuilding Milwaukee Brewers, David Stearns has kept transaction addicts happy by making one player move after another.

That gravy train of news slowed down this week at baseball’s winter meetings, where the Brewers failed to sign a free agent or make a trade over four days that were slow in personnel moves in general. But Stearns made it clear before departing the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort on Thursday that his delegation was not killing time playing cards in the team’s suite.

“We’re still having productive dialogue,” he said. “We’re still talking to teams and agents. I do think we’re making progress.

“A lot of times, it’s easy to get caught up with what happens at the winter meetings. A lot of the work we’re doing here lays the foundation for the rest of our off-season.”

It remained quiet until the very end of the meetings for the Brewers. They had an opening on their 40-man roster but chose not to make a selection in the Rule 5 draft of unprotected players. Pro scouting supervisor Bryan Gale said there was a player or two in whom the club had interest but were not still on the board when the Brewers’ turn came at No. 14.

It was one of those rare years in which the Brewers neither selected a player nor lost one in either the major-league or minor-league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Those players must be kept for a full season and it's actually a sign of how much deeper the Brewers' roster has become that no selection was made.

"We have greater roster constraints right now than a year or two ago," Stearns said. "That’s a good thing. We feel like our 40-man roster has taken steps forward. As your 40-man roster gets better, it’s tougher to carry Rule 5 picks."

Look for the Brewers to make moves in the coming days that were formulated at these meetings. They remain on the hunt for a starting pitcher, relief help and a second baseman.

The Brewers have talked to the Kansas City Royals about second baseman Whit Merrifield, who had a breakthrough season in 2017. Merrifield, a 28-year-old with five more years of control, batted .288 with 19 home runs, 78 runs batted in, a .784 OPS and 34 stolen bases, which led the American League.

The Royals are going to lose several key free agents and therefore have decided to reboot their roster. They could make left-hander Danny Duffy available and he would be a desirable commodity with four years remaining on his contract at $60 million. Duffy, 28, has some durability concerns but is 45-43 with a 3.73 ERA in four-plus years in Kansas City.

Asked if he was looking for a top-of-the-rotation starter, which would cost much more via trade or free agency, or merely an established pitcher to plug in any spot, Stearns said, “I think 30 out of 30 teams would take a big (addition) at the top of their rotations. We’re no different.

“We also understand that the reality is we’re probably going to have to develop top-of-the-rotation starters. Occasionally, they can be acquired via trade. When those guys become available, we make sure we understand what the asking price is.

“But we also have a lot of confidence in the development of our own pitching. We think that we’ve proven that. We’ve seen our own pitchers get better. We have a number of young pitchers coming. So, the foundation of our rotation going forward is going to be home-grown, developing pitchers from within.”

The Brewers were taken aback by the aggressive free-agent relief market at the meetings, where the going rate was $7 million to $9 million a year for two or three years. Stearns said he still believes reliable relief help can be had later in the off-season, via both free agency and trades.

Stearns said he was leaving the meetings with offers still out to free agents as well as “active dialogue” with clubs that could lead to trades being consummated.

“I do think there has been a lot of industry discussion even though it hasn’t transferred to transactions quite yet,” he said. “A lot of the transactions we do see prior to the holidays, and shortly after the holidays, will be due to the work done here.

“Ninety-nine percent of the stuff we work on never works. That’s the nature of our business. It is really tough to put together a trade. It often is something that’s worked on for days and weeks if not months. When that 1% happens, it’s rewarding because it has taken a lot to get there.

“I’m confident that we have enough conversations going that it’s been a productive meeting, no matter what.”

So, stay tuned. There are still two months remaining until the start of spring training.