Brewers acquire OF Gerardo Parra from Arizona; prospects Mitch Haniger and Anthony Banda to D-backs

[DoubleSwitch]

Haniger is a future corner outfielder with average power and a decent approach at the plate who's 23 years old. Outfield is the biggest strength of the system right now. You've got not only Tayor, but also Michael Reed imo as guys in the system I'd rather keep than Haniger. He doesn't have a plus tool that's going to carry him to the bigs, besides maybe the arm, and that means a lot of things are going to have go right for him to ever be a major league regular. He's definitely got value, but you've got to give up value to get some value. I don't see how anyone can argue he's a guy that we can't live without.

[TURBO]

I am just super happy we made it to the deadline with Coulter and Nelson still Brewers property...

 

[sveumrules]

Since Lucroy and Brantley were mentioned, I thought I'd post their numbers at Huntsville for comparisons sake...

 

Lucroy 284/394/426 (primarily as a 23 year old)

Brantley 298/382/366 (age 20 & 21) with 45/56 SB/CS & more BB than SO

Haniger 255/316/416 (age 23)

[paul253]

Late to the party here but I'm not overly thrilled about this. Don't get me wrong. I'm not fretting over losing Haniger but obtaining Parra does nothing for me. Against righties he's hitting .271 with an OBP slightly over .300. Awesome. Defensively he may be an upgrade over Davis but we already have a bench player whose a huge upgrade defensively over Davis (Schafer). I guess it protects us in case of an injury but to me outfield was nearly as important as getting a quality infielder. If Segura goes down we're screwed.

 

It's also kind of sad thinking that the guy we just traded for a 4th outfielder was selected one pick ahead of Joey Gallo, who is currently sitting, I believe, 4th amongst BA's midseason prospect list. I know a ton of us wanted Gallo but for some reason we selected another outfielder. Just reminded me of how "blah" our drafting has been the past few years.

[SRB]

I'm a little late to the party, but I think this is a great move. You have to evaluate defense with a few seasons' worth of defensive metrics, and Parra is an elite defender that brings a ton of value just with his glove. Last season he was a 4.6 fWAR player. I mean, come on, who cares about his 2014, that is an outstanding return for Mitch Haniger. This reminds me a lot of the Nyjer Morgan trade, and I think that worked out pretty well for Milwaukee.

 

Who is not excited to see the combined defensive prowess of Parra + Gomez??

 

*Edit* Btw, Haniger has a .316 OBP at AA with 19 BB versus 41 K, I don't really see how you can compare him even to Michael Brantley who was not an elite prospect (Brantley's worst season in the low minors he had a .386 OBP with more walks than strikeouts...). Hanger is a solid prospect but nothing special until he proves otherwise. Kind of like Cutter Dykstra when we traded him for Morgan.

[brewers4eric]

We can debate the merits of this trade for several more pages. As it stands for me, we're in first place on July 31, and I never expected this team to be there.

 

Time to wake up and smell the tailgate. Go Brewers.

[craigharmann]

Let's just all enjoy one of the best Gerardos out there, in honor of our newest Gerardo.

 

[AZBrewCrew]

Let's just all enjoy one of the best Gerardos out there, in honor of our newest Gerardo.

 

 

You sir win at the internet. I knew exactly what you posted without even clicking the link. Awesome!

[brewmann04]

We got a quality bat and a solid OF who is an upgrade on the Bench. Good Move here starting pitching has been very good for the most part. One Key if Henderson is Healthy to pitch we have our reliever.But i sure DM is still working the Phones in case he needs that extra reliever.PS I have to agree OF is a pretty stacked postion for the crew.

[TooLiveBrew]

Fun fact:

 

According to Baseball Reference, in 2013 Carlos Gomez had a defensive WAR of 4.6. In 2013, Gerardo Parra had a defensive WAR of 4.0.

 

That is crazy good defense in the OF in late game situations.

And if you watch Parra defend, you know that stat is backed up on the field. He's an elite defender in the OF, and (as others have noted) has a huge arm to boot.

 

Good add here. I don't hate the price tag. I guess that about sums up my thoughts. Carry on.

[TURBO]

Hanger is a solid prospect but nothing special until he proves otherwise. Kind of like Cutter Dykstra when we traded him for Morgan.

 

I don't think you can even come close to comparing Dykstra to Haniger, I think that is a very big stretch...

[SRB]

Hanger is a solid prospect but nothing special until he proves otherwise. Kind of like Cutter Dykstra when we traded him for Morgan.

 

I don't think you can even come close to comparing Dykstra to Haniger, I think that is a very big stretch...

 

How so? 38th overall pick (Haniger) versus 54th overall pick (Dykstra). Going off John Sickels rankings, he had Dykstra #9 in the system, and Haniger #7 in an arguably much more shallow system, both C+ prospects. Neither had very impressive minor league numbers.

 

Plus, Haniger isn't married to Meadow Soprano.

[SoupTown]

What comes AFTER late to the party. My first thought was for NEXT year. I am tired of not having a real, one person guy at first. I hope Braun will be at first next year. Honestly you cannot even see minors guy on the horizon.

 

Parra seems perfect for this year AND next. Overbay retires. Reynolds is a nice backup 1st, 3rd, and last resort corner.

[swheeler23]

I could see Khris Davis sitting vs the toughest RHP and being replaced late in games for defensive purposes, at the very least. Parra will be used more than strictly as a backup. Braun is probably banged up more than we know and could use an extra day or 2 off per week too

 

If the Brewers need to rest Braun twice a week this team is in trouble. Once evey ten -12 days but not twice a week

[adambr2]

I could see Khris Davis sitting vs the toughest RHP and being replaced late in games for defensive purposes, at the very least. Parra will be used more than strictly as a backup. Braun is probably banged up more than we know and could use an extra day or 2 off per week too

 

If the Brewers need to rest Braun twice a week this team is in trouble. Once evey ten -12 days but not twice a week

 

Exactly. I don't mind having Parra. I mind proactively trying to get him ABs over 3 outfielders that are simply better hitters. Braun, Gomez, and Davis should get exactly the same amount of time off that they would have gotten before the trade, no more.

[sveumrules]

Hanger is a solid prospect but nothing special until he proves otherwise. Kind of like Cutter Dykstra when we traded him for Morgan.

 

I don't think you can even come close to comparing Dykstra to Haniger, I think that is a very big stretch...

 

You're right. Cutter Dykstra posted a 132 wRC+ in A+ last year (compared to 107 for Haniger) and is at 118 this year in AA (103 for Haniger). So there really isn't a comparison, Cutter has outperformed Haniger the last two years. He is a year and a half older so Haniger has time to close the gap but so far there isn't really a comparison.

[logan82]

I think as usual there are posters who are a looking at a statline and making determinations about what a young player is or isn't without any context.

 

Haniger has enough tools to be an average RF offensively with above average defense as his ceiling.

 

He'll hit somewhere between .250 and .270, has the potential to hit 20 HRs, has a decent eye at the plate, a good arm, and can even play a passable CF. He's not a burner, but he's not slow, he's just a very good baseball player who does many things well but isn't all that flashy.

 

Parra is a decent upgrade of the bench and Milwaukee's OF situation is crowded so losing Haniger isn't the end of world, but Haniger may well end up having a better all around career. This trade isn't a slam dunk win for the Brewers but they traded from a position of strength to acquire an upgrade for the MLB team which made more sense than trying to sell out for someone like Price.

Haniger may be better but with 3 right handed bats already in the outfield for the foreseeable future I don't know hoe he would have fit in. He would have had to play better than passable in CF or hit left handed for this to hurt us much.

 

I know people have said he would push for playing time next year but I just don't see it. We have established starters at all 3 outfield positions.

[Eye Black]

I haven't seen this Fangraghs article by Jeff Sullivan posted yet, and it is certainly worth the read...

 

Brewers Bet on a Different Sort of Regression

 

...and if reading isn't your thing, then click on it anyway to be mesmerized by this GIF...

 

http://cdn.fangraphs.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Parra2.gif

[JohnBriggs12]

Was out of reach yesterday so couldn't comment. I agree with most posters but want to add that Gomez has been showing signs he needs a breather. His AB's the past week have been bad.

 

Haniger was destined to be a trade piece sooner or later. He was blocked here until 2017 when he'll be 26. By 2017, Taylor should be ready. There are other CF prospects behind him too.

[PeaveyFury]

I think this fixed one of two clear problems with the team, fourth OF/bench, with very little doubt. So I'm happy with this trade.

 

My issue, as others have said as well, is that we couldn't fix the other issue of 1B. I'm hoping someone clears waivers that might offer us some help.

[torts]

think Davis can learn 1B in the off-season? HEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[3and2Fastball]

I think some of you are vastly overrating Khris Davis. I like him, too, and he has a lot of potential, but he's batting .232/.288/.723 vs RHP this year

 

A .288 OBP is Yuni B bad/Johnny Estrada bad. And he is a liability defensively. Meanwhile Davis has a .962 OPS vs LHP

 

Seems that a platoon is in order and Parra will likely get plenty of opportunities

[adambr2]

Davis is a player on the rise. He has, for the most part, done everything we could have hoped. He has an OPS near .800 and he is always near the top of the team in power.

 

Now you want a straight platoon with Davis basically now only starting once every 4-5 days?

[3and2Fastball]

Davis has a OBP of .288 vs RHP

Parra has a OBP of .335 vs RHP (career)

 

Parra is vastly better defensively than either of our corner outfielders and has much more experience than Davis

 

This is a pennant race we are in

 

I suppose those who think Davis should start vs RHP also think Gennett should start vs LHP

[torts]

career slash numbers against divisional opponents:

CIN (36 G) - .287/.344/.796 (AT CIN - .262/.333/.672)

CHC (34 G) - .291/.365/.765 (AT CHC - .356/.400/.892)

PIT (32 G) - .270/.336/.750 (AT PIT - .277/.329/.682)

STL (30 G) - .254/.285/.717 (AT STL - .217/.250/.569)