Residents of Chicago Googled ‘Brewers’ more often than ‘Cubs’ in 2018

Definitely not a rivalry, nope.

Earlier today, Kelly Bauer of the website ‘Block Club Chicago’ published a review of the top Google searched by residents of the Windy City in 2018. Chicagoans were apparently more interested in this summer’s World Cup more than anything else during the last year, but they were also quite attentive to the baseball team 90 miles to their north, even more so than they were in the two MLB squads that play in Chicago.

Chicago’s top 10 Google searches:

1....

Brewers acquire Alex Claudio

The Brewers have officially struck a deal with the Rangers to acquire lefty Alex Claudio, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). Texas will receive Milwaukee’s competitive balance pick in the deal, which will deliver the club a draft choice in the range of the 40th overall selection. Claudio, 26, has made the most of his arsenal with impeccable command and an uncanny ability to generate groundballs and limit dingers. Over his five seasons of MLB action, the southpaw...

Brewers acquire lefty Claudio from Rangers

Milwaukee sent its Competitive Balance pick in next year's Draft -- No. 40 overall -- to the Rangers for 26-year-old left-handed reliever Alex Claudio, who offers multi-inning flexibility and comes with three years of club control, plus at least one Minor League option. He filled a need after Milwaukee opted to non-tender lefties Dan Jennings and Xavier Cedeno last month.

Brewers acquire reliever Alex Claudio in trade with Texas Rangers

The Brewers will send their competitive balance pick to Texas in exchange for the lefty reliever

It took until the last day of the Winter Meetings, but David Stearns got back to slinging.

The Brewers are trading their competitive balance pick in next year’s draft — the 39th pick overall — to the Texas Rangers in exchange for funky lefty Alex Claudio, according to Ken Rosenthal.

#Rangers getting #Brewers’ competitive-balance pick for LHP Alex Claudio, sources say.

Brewers reportedly get Claudio from Rangers

The Brewers acquired left-handed pitcher Alex Claudio from the Rangers in exchange for the No. 39 overall pick in the 2019 Draft, sources told MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal on Thursday.

Report: Anibal Sanchez, Wade Miley on Nationals' radar to replace Tanner Roark

The Nationals already seemed like a possible ongoing pursuer of starting pitching before trading away Tanner Roark; now, it’s all but inevitable that the club will add another new arm. Veteran free agents Wade Miley and Anibal Sanchez are both on the Nats’ radar, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, though it’s not clear whether either is particularly likely to land in D.C.  Both hurlers turned in excellent results in 2018 after overcoming injuries, with the latter relying on his...

Milwaukee Brewers potential Rule 5 Draft targets

They didn’t make a pick last year, but hey, they have four open spots. This year’s annual Rule 5 Draft is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning during the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the second winter under the new Rule 5 Draft rules in the most recent CBA; remember, the AA phase of the minor league portion of the draft has been eliminated and the cost for a pick in the MLB phase of the draft is now $100,000. Here is a refresher on how a player becomes eligible to be...

Brewers announce 2019 giveaway schedule

Mark your calendars and clear room in your bobblehead collection

Giveaway days always tend to be some of the most popular at Miller Park, and depending on your perspective, that can either be good or bad.

One the one hand, it’s always good to fill Miller Park. On the other hand, the items tend to bring out the worst in people -- often from those who normally don’t attend games -- especially if it’s a limited giveaway.

I was there at the lightweight hoodie giveaway this year and barely...

Brewers, Nelson agree to terms, avoid arbitration

The Brewers scratched an item off their winter to-do list Wednesday by signing right-hander Jimmy Nelson to a $3.7 million contract, avoiding arbitration with a pitcher who missed all of last season while rehabbing from right shoulder surgery.

Milwaukee Brewers avoid arbitration with Jimmy Nelson, agree to one-year deal

He’ll be looking to come back from shoulder surgery.

Jimmy Nelson drew a $3.7 mil salary from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018 during his first year of arbitration eligibility, and after missing the entire regular season while recovering and rehabbing from shoulder surgery, he’ll reportedly earn the same base sum in 2019:

#Brewers in agreement on $3.7 million deal with Jimmy Nelson, avoiding arbitration, source tells The Athletic. @Haudricourt first on the agreement.

Report: Brewers avoid arbitration with Jimmy Nelson

The Brewers have avoided arbitration with right-hander Jimmy Nelson by agreeing to a one-year contract for 2019, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Nelson will earn $3.7M in the deal, The Athletic’s Robert Murray tweets, which was Nelson’s salary from 2018 and the number that Haudricourt figured the righty would receive, given that Nelson missed all of last season recovering from shoulder surgery. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected the same $3.7M...

Milwaukee Brewers have met with second baseman Ian Kinsler, per report

The 36-year-old can still be a presence on a major league team The Milwaukee Brewers seem to be building a long list of candidates to fill their vacancy at second base, and you can now add on Ian Kinsler. Tom Haudricourt is reporting that Kinsler is yet another player who has met in person with the Brewers. Milwaukee has stated publicly that they’d like to get a player to help at second base, one way or another. Kinsler may be ideal for many reasons. Last year, Kinsler was traded from the...

5 takeaways from Counsell's Meetings Q&A

Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose club has shifted more often than any other National League team in each of the past three seasons, mounted a spirited defense of the practice on Tuesday during his annual question-and-answer Winter Meetings media session.

Ban the shift? Brewers manager Craig Counsell thinks that's a very, very bad idea

"I don't see how it improves the game."

Brewers could eye upgrade with catcher Ramos

Brewers officials had what a baseball source characterized as a "very good" meeting on Monday with free-agent catcher Wilson Ramos, who is on hand with his representatives at the Winter Meetings to meet with teams.

Report: Brewers meet with free agent catcher Wilson Ramos

The 31-year-old All-Star would bring some much-needed offense behind the plate, but it would come at the sacrifice of defense

Outside of second base, the biggest opportunity for the Brewers to make an upgrade this offseason is behind the plate.

While Manny Pina and Erik Kratz have their strengths and are fine for what they are, there’s no denying that they’re limited offensively -- something that became especially apparent during the team’s longer offensive droughts in the 2018 season,...

Milwaukee Brewers Trade Assets: Josh Hader

No, the Brewers (probably) won’t trade Josh Hader this winter. But should they at least consider it?

Let’s just be clear about this, before we get overwhelmed by all of the rumors linking the Brewers to aces again this winter: the Brewers are going to have to give up something significant to get one. Whether it’s Keston Hiura, Corbin Burnes or someone else, you aren’t getting a true Capital-A Ace without giving up something that would hurt.

So why don’t we think outside the box a...

Milwaukee Brewers “in the market for an ace-level arm,” per report

We’ve never heard that one before!

Baseball’s Winter Meetings are in full swing down in Sin City, and much like last year, early speculation has tied the Milwaukee Brewers to the market for pitching upgrades. The team relied heavily on their staff of “out-getters” last season as they produced the fourth-best ERA in baseball (3.73, tied with Arizona), with Craig Counsell deploying his hurlers in unconventional ways in order to maximize their strengths. Though the Brewers successfully...

Milwaukee Brewers have scouted Yusei Kikuchi “extensively”

David Stearns says the team has been following the Seibu Lions’ lefty

Milwaukee Brewers General Manager David Stearns intimated at the Winter Meetings that the team will be involved in the market for Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.

Tom Haudricourt reported Stearns’ interest, noting that the GM told reporters that the team has an “extensive history” of scouting the pitcher. Stearns also takes the time to acknowledge how difficult it can be to lure in a young foreign pitcher who may...

Milwaukee Brewers are open to reunions with Wade Miley, Mike Moustakas

Both players filled key roles for the division-winning team in 2018.

The Milwaukee Brewers have some needs to fill on the infield and within their pitching staff this offseason, and its possible that they could bring back some familiar names to fill those roles. According to separate reports from baseball’s Winter Meetings, the team is keeping tabs on the free agency of both Mike Moustakas and Wade Miley.

Robert Murray of the Athletic, who also reported that Milwaukee was looking at second...