Sogard to Brewers - 1 year, $4.5m w Club Option

[JDBrewCrew]

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

Free-agent infielder Eric Sogard in agreement with #Brewers, source tells The Athletic. Believed to be one-year deal with club option for 2021. Pending physical.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Nerd power! Our new Hernan!

[bill hAll Star]

If we play with the juiced ball: this is very good.

 

If we don't: meh.

 

So is he the 3B? Now I might be confused. Or are we going to dump Arcia?

[jjgott]

[sarcasm]So is he our starting 1B or 3B?[/sarcasm]

[xisxisxis]

Why does this bring back memories of the second coming of Yuni Betancourt?....

 

This move negates all the good Stearns did this offseason... (hyperbole warning)

[metzy25]

Is this bench depth or are we viewing him as starting at 3rd? Is Arica trade?!

[AJOHNSON104]

I guess he's the 26th man / super utility. Maybe keep Arcia or Urias at AAA to start year?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

This has to mean Arica is being shipped out in a deal. Or Keston (ducks)

[SeaBass]

Looking at his splits last season he alternated between having one great month followed by one terrible month then great, terrible, etc. Overall numbers look nice but there's a lot of volatility there. Interested to see his salary.

[PeaveyFury]

Wow, I hadn't paid attention to how good a season he had last year.

[mattyo]

Second signing in a row that has made me chuckle

[KeithStone53151]

Sogard played a lot of SS and 2b last year I believe. I really like him as a utility option. He actually had some stretches last year that his offense was eye-popping enough that I was starting him on my fantasy baseball team...especially early on.

[owbc]

Can't wait for them to sign Felix Hernandez tomorrow.

[Fear The Chorizo]

There's your 1B platoon option with Braun!

 

I have too many nightmares about the start of that 2018 season to really want much to do with seeing Sogard get a ton of PT again with the Brewers, juiced ball or not. I think this move makes sense if Arcia is on the way out via trade, though - utility IF that hits left handed that can back up Urias and Hiura. Trying to remember his crazy 1st month with the Brewers in 2017 and selectively great months with the Blue Jays last season to cling to a silver lining.

[SeaBass]

Can't wait for them to sign Felix Hernandez tomorrow.

I demand we sign Scooter Gennett!

[bill hAll Star]

Sogard played a lot of SS and 2b last year I believe. I really like him as a utility option. He actually had some stretches last year that his offense was eye-popping enough that I was starting him on my fantasy baseball team...especially early on.

 

He is the type of hitter that thrived with the juiced ball (Lemaheiu, La Stella, McNeil).

 

A guy that previously hit the ball hard to all fields but didn't have the power to routinely get it over the fence.

 

With the juiced ball, some of those went over the fence and many more of them hit the gap because it's harder to shift with guys hitting the ball hard with the entire field in play.

[KeithStone53151]

Sogard played a lot of SS and 2b last year I believe. I really like him as a utility option. He actually had some stretches last year that his offense was eye-popping enough that I was starting him on my fantasy baseball team...especially early on.

 

He is the type of hitter that thrived with the juiced ball (Lemaheiu, La Stella, McNeil).

 

A guy that previously hit the ball hard to all fields but didn't have the power to routinely get it over the fence.

 

With the juiced ball, some of those went over the fence and many more of them hit the gap because it's harder to shift with guys hitting the ball hard with the entire field in play.

 

That's all super fair. His contact ability plays up quite a bit with a juiced ball. If it gets tamed back to normal, he's a fine backup at SS/2b for Hiura/Urias and utility guy. I'm not expecting an 825 OPS out of Sogard with 100 starts or anything. It's a solid fringe move in my opinion.

[bill hAll Star]

Sogard played a lot of SS and 2b last year I believe. I really like him as a utility option. He actually had some stretches last year that his offense was eye-popping enough that I was starting him on my fantasy baseball team...especially early on.

 

He is the type of hitter that thrived with the juiced ball (Lemaheiu, La Stella, McNeil).

 

A guy that previously hit the ball hard to all fields but didn't have the power to routinely get it over the fence.

 

With the juiced ball, some of those went over the fence and many more of them hit the gap because it's harder to shift with guys hitting the ball hard with the entire field in play.

 

That's all super fair. His contact ability plays up quite a bit with a juiced ball. If it gets tamed back to normal, he's a fine backup at SS/2b for Hiura/Urias and utility guy. I'm not expecting an 825 OPS out of Sogard with 100 starts or anything. It's a solid fringe move in my opinion.

 

Agree. I would be mildly disappointed if it's a Urias/Sogard combo at 3B with them rotating in at SS with Arcia. I am still thinking there's more to come here, though.

[KeithStone53151]

 

That's all super fair. His contact ability plays up quite a bit with a juiced ball. If it gets tamed back to normal, he's a fine backup at SS/2b for Hiura/Urias and utility guy. I'm not expecting an 825 OPS out of Sogard with 100 starts or anything. It's a solid fringe move in my opinion.

 

Agree. I would be mildly disappointed if it's a Urias/Sogard combo at 3B with them rotating in at SS with Arcia. I am still thinking there's more to come here, though.

 

There's for sure at least 2 more bats added, 3 if Arcia finds his way out the door. We'll have 13 position players this year. See below.

 

OF - 4, Yelich, Cain, Garcia, Gamel

IF - 7, Narvaez, Pina, Braun, Hiura, Urias, Arcia, Sogard

 

At least one LH power bat at 3b or 1b...I would actually think 2 LH bats makes the most sense in those spots.

[3and2Fastball]

Brewers are getting more and more of the gritty veteran types that Counsell loves.... I like it!

[yoshii8]

Don't love this off-season so far, like at all. He had nice numbers for Toronto last year, but is going to be 34 and has been bad most of his career.

[djoctagone]

sogard still has one option remaining, but has sufficient service time to refuse the optional assignment.

[tmwiese55]

Considering both SS options on the roster are either bad or unproven hitters (plus he's LH while they're RH), it's not the worst depth move. I think most could agree on that. Now let's hope he's not what's banked on to start 125 games at 3B.

[KeithStone53151]

Don't love this off-season so far, like at all. He had nice numbers for Toronto last year, but is going to be 34 and has been bad most of his career.

 

Even the Yankees will make fringy moves to improve their roster around the edges. Feel free to be disappointed about certain things...like not improving the SP enough. But this is a quality move.

[JDBrewCrew]

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

·

23s

Sogard’s deal with #Brewers is for one year, $4.5M with club option, source tells The Athletic.

 

That's ..... a lot.