Brewers acquire Erik Kratz for PTBNL or cash; Bandy DFA'd [6/16 Update: PTBNL is Wendell Rijo]

[folly412]

I hope Kratz is for AAA. If it's a stopgap until Nottingham is healthy there's no reason to not just stay with Bandy. And if he's actually intended to be the backup catcher, LOL. So hoping Nottingham (if healthy) or Bethancourt is coming up.

[rcc]

Better than Bandy I suppose.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I would genuinely love to have Maldanado right now, that said I don't think Kratz is going to play for the Brewers.

[3and2Fastball]

Wonder if we are about to trade for Realmuto or Salvador Perez? Kind of a weird move

 

I trust in Stearns but I wonder if somebody spiked his lemonade last night or something?

[adambr2]

McCalvy confirmed that Kratz is the guy.

 

Just makes no sense at all.

 

We literally swapped Arcia and Bandy today for Sogard and Kratz. I thought it would be pretty tough to downgrade offensively from the two worst hitters on the team, but we managed to pull it off.

[PeaveyFury]

There has to be something they've seen, right? Or this is a 2-3 day stopgap as they finish up something else? Otherwise, I agree that it makes zero sense.

[tmwiese55]

consider me underwhelmed on this one. But I'm firmly in the camp of trying something else since obviously Bandy is terrible, will be very tough to be worse than him. But something else has to be out there. Eitehr of the minor league options would have been more appealing imo

[MrTPlush]

I’ve never seen so many people up in arms over giving up absolutely nothing to replace someone who sucks at everything.

 

There is essentially zero downside...and well...essentially little upside.

[TURBO]

I’ve never seen so many people up in arms over giving up absolutely nothing to replace someone who sucks at everything.

 

There is essentially zero downside...and well...essentially little upside.

 

So you thought a move like this would inspire no conversation? Still a message board, where people gather to discuss the team.

[JosephC]

Kratz rates as plus-plus-plus in terms of veteran grit.

[MrTPlush]

I’ve never seen so many people up in arms over giving up absolutely nothing to replace someone who sucks at everything.

 

There is essentially zero downside...and well...essentially little upside.

 

So you thought a move like this would inspire no conversation? Still a message board, where people gather to discuss the team.

 

Did I say that? Nope, not at all.

[tmwiese55]

I'm by no means up in arms. I'm fine trying anything new as we know Bandy can't hack it. I just hope they're still looking or maybe they're just waiting on the minor leaguer to be ready off the DL. Glad they're not content with Bandy and didn't kick this down the road any longer

[MrTPlush]

I’d be upset if it was July 31st or so. This really is about as major of a move you are going to make in May. There are exceptions of course, but it is really hard to swing notable deals this time of year. Especially when so many teams are in it so to speak still.

 

Just an attempt to catch lightning in a bottle like with Sogard last year.

[SRB]

I have no clue why they don't give Bethancourt a shot or just wait for Nottingham to be healthy, but in terms of Kratz vs. Bandy, they are both horrible hitters but at least Kratz offers you some HR pop off the bench.

[YelichPosse]

I’m disappointed our assumption from this morning ended up the truth

[wildcat2237]

I have no clue why they don't give Bethancourt a shot or just wait for Nottingham to be healthy, but in terms of Kratz vs. Bandy, they are both horrible hitters but at least Kratz offers you some HR pop off the bench.

 

This.

 

Kratz is really really bad. Bethancourt is hitting .328 at AAA. I'd call up Bethancourt 10x over trading for Kratz.

 

YUCK.

[YelichPosse]

Kratz did OPS .258 in 2016 so there’s that.

[adambr2]

I've noticed something about the roster construction on this team on the last few spots. When they have minor league depth not already on the 40 man roster, they seem really averse to risk losing any of it. They don't promote their own to the 40 until they absolutely have to or imminently will have to, like with Wilkerson late last year.

 

They almost always go outside the organization to fill these spots -- examples just since the beginning of 2017 include Franklin, Webb, Asher, Saladino, Kratz, Berry, Brooks...I'm probably missing a couple. There haven't been many exceptions -- Wang and Sogard come to mind.

 

While I get this to some extent, depth doesn't really do you any good if you never plan to use it. And from a position of making this place somewhere guys want to play, I'd like to see us give more opportunities internally. It's got to be frustrating for guys like Orf, Bethancourt, and Nick Ramirez to consistently perform well enough to earn a big league shot and be continuously bypassed by mediocre journeymen outside the organization.

 

They always seem to want a couple 40 man spots to be completely expendable.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Kratz has been playing well in AAA. My best guess is they're hoping to get a replacement level player with a hot bat to buy some time. They knew Bandy couldn't do it.

 

I don't expect Arcia to begone super long.

[YelichPosse]

I am tickled pink Bandy was sent packing.

 

I am confused as to the manner of his ouster.... with internal candidates.

 

Stearns as been pretty spot on with most of his chess moves and non moves. But some this year have been very strange on the surface. Let’s hope he’s just setting us up for the long con and going to show his big hand at some point...

[JohnBriggs12]

I’ve never seen so many people up in arms over giving up absolutely nothing to replace someone who sucks at everything.

 

There is essentially zero downside...and well...essentially little upside.

 

Except that they had a catcher with major league experience hitting .328/.367/.467 at AAA who is just a few years removed from being a top 100 prospect. Frankly I saw Bethancourt in Arizona and thought he was very impressive. There's more to this than meets the eye. Maybe it's about pitcher development at CS and wanting those guys throwing to the same guys essentially all year.

[Jenkins5]

While the Brewers were rebuilding when the move was made, Martin Maldonado for Jett Bandy deal was definitely a miss by Stearns.

 

Ehh not anything I’d call a miss. Not like we thought Bandy was the answer for future. Saved money & while some want him replaced.... I’m a fan of Pina. Think Pina & Nottingham soon will be a nice combo for us. Malay was solid not sure he would make offense that much better if he was our number 1. Pina’s defense has been very good was well. I call it wash.

 

Nottingham will be here soon enough I hope.

 

As for trade.... I’d prefer signing Kendell out out of FA but lol low risk, low reward move to bridge gap..... hopefully

[Never Outhustled]

I’ve never seen so many people up in arms over giving up absolutely nothing to replace someone who sucks at everything.

 

There is essentially zero downside...and well...essentially little upside.

 

Except that they had a catcher with major league experience hitting .328/.367/.467 at AAA who is just a few years removed from being a top 100 prospect. Frankly I saw Bethancourt in Arizona and thought he was very impressive. There's more to this than meets the eye. Maybe it's about pitcher development at CS and wanting those guys throwing to the same guys essentially all year.

 

Kratz had a higher OPS in AAA this year than Bethancourt, and that gap widened when curved for park factors. I still really like Bethancourt, but he really needs at-bats, after only getting 26 last year.

 

What a great debut for Kratz.

[Tbadder]

Has Kratz already surpassed Bandy’s Offensive contribution with a single game? (Of course his regression will now be monumental.) Nice move.

[Jaylyn]

I've noticed something about the roster construction on this team on the last few spots. When they have minor league depth not already on the 40 man roster, they seem really averse to risk losing any of it. They don't promote their own to the 40 until they absolutely have to or imminently will have to, like with Wilkerson late last year.

 

They almost always go outside the organization to fill these spots -- examples just since the beginning of 2017 include Franklin, Webb, Asher, Saladino, Kratz, Berry, Brooks...I'm probably missing a couple. There haven't been many exceptions -- Wang and Sogard come to mind.

 

While I get this to some extent, depth doesn't really do you any good if you never plan to use it. And from a position of making this place somewhere guys want to play, I'd like to see us give more opportunities internally. It's got to be frustrating for guys like Orf, Bethancourt, and Nick Ramirez to consistently perform well enough to earn a big league shot and be continuously bypassed by mediocre journeymen outside the organization.

 

They always seem to want a couple 40 man spots to be completely expendable.

This 100%!!