There have been rumors swirling about the Milwaukee Brewers’ interest in Chicago Cubs’ pitcher Jake Arrieta. FOX Sports Jon Paul Morosi added fuel to flames saying the ‘interest is real’. Brewers fans let out a jaded groan to anyone who would listen yesterday. Why would they discount a former Cy Young winner? They’ve been down this path before with National League Central pitchers coming to Milwaukee and burning out here instead of their last spot in the division. Even though Brewers fans want to believe there are similarities, this is very different in fact besides where Arrieta played in 2017.

Source: #Brewers showing interest in free agent Jake Arrieta. With Jimmy Nelson expected to miss portion of 2018 after shoulder surgery, team is looking for top-of-the-rotation upgrades. @MLB @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 20, 2017

#Brewers had payrolls in excess of $100 million earlier this decade; at present, commitments are ~ $32 million before arbitration raises, per Spotrac. They drew 2.6 million fans in 2017 and have the capacity to make a major addition. @MLB @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 20, 2017

Brewers fans are missing one major point about Arrieta and other guys who played for the Brewers; he’s an ace or a second starter on a team while those guys were all threes and maybe a two at most. Jeff Suppan had been a virtual journeyman before joining St. Louis. The same goes for Kyle Lohse. Matt Garza couldn’t stick with an organization, but he looked like a number two maybe once or twice in his career. It’s flawed to think Arrieta would yield similar results when he’s a much better pitcher than any of the three we just mentioned. Hell even Lance Lynn, whose another free agent, is better than the above mentioned former Brewers. The team would be fine with Arrieta

I get the idea of paying someone an exorbitant amount of money to come play baseball at age 31, but we have to get past the fact baseball contracts are ridiculous right now. Spotrac values Arrieta’s new deal at a whopping 130 million dollars over the next five years. Milwaukee sports fans hate spending big money, and it’s an odd thing. These same people want Ted Thompson to make moves on free agents, but when other teams do, it’s too much money. I guess they’ve been burned in the past, but it’s hard not to trust in David Sterns at this point. When has he steered this team wrong?

The other thing about Arrieta that makes him different is the familiarity Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson has with him as a player. He never really coached the former Cy Young due to being a Minor League Coordinator at the time, but I’m sure Johnson has valued insight into what kind of player Arrieta from his time in Chicago. Johnson having a guy he can work with already from the start is great, and if Brewers get a veteran leader for guys like Josh Hader, that’s an added bonus.

This launches what will be the most interesting Brewers offseason since 2010-2011 when they traded for Zack Greinke. That’s the same type of thing we’re going to see happen this winter, and Arrieta is the tip of the iceberg.

Charlie.