Milwaukee Brewers made a lot of moves yesterday just like most other teams in baseball. There were decisions on tendering contracts or non-tendering deals making people free agents. The latter happened often. More than usual. People acted surprised in baseball circles, but in short, the teams and players did this to themselves by acting like children for most of the summer. One of the more surprising moves by Milwaukee was to non-tender Corey Knebel, and Milwaukee ended up trading him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a Player to be Named Later. This tells us a lot about what Milwaukee might be planning for the remainder of the offseason.

The reason why this move surprised me was simple. Knebel seemed like a capable option for the Brewers if they decided to move on from Josh Hader. Milwaukee could move Devin Williams into the closer role then utilize Knebel as the set-up guy. Or if things went to complete shit with Williams, Knebel could step in and be the closer. It seemed like a perfect solution. But Brewers general manager David Stearns had other ideas. Dealing Knebel to a National League contender is a bit of a risk, but it tells me Milwaukee doesn’t think Knebel has much in the tank anymore.

So does this mean Hader is off the table in trades? Not exactly. I’m sure Stearns will field offers from teams needing that star closer. But maybe he believes either two things in this offseason. One, the division is gettable. With the Chicago Cubs alerting that they may take a step back, this division becomes a bit easier and the combo of Hader and Williams is the best in baseball. You can win a World Series with the backend bullpen. Two, Milwaukee knows they need to add offense this offseason, and due to the nature of spending in baseball, Stearns may think he can pull off deals as he did with Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal.

This is a large breadcrumb on how the offseason will go for the Brewers. No one is making any moves just yet, but a time will come for the Brewers to strike. Stearns has a plan. He always does. Last year’s plan blew up in his face. But the plans before that resulted in successful seasons. Trust him and trust that he knows what this roster should look like next season.

Charlie.