Brewers sign Brock Holt

[Brewcrewin07]

[PeaveyFury]

Nice bat, and average at worst defense while playing a lot of positions. Surprising he was a free agent so late here. Is there something on him that I'm missing?

[Eye Black]

I don’t know if this is actually warranted or more of an indictment on the Brewers offseason, but I am excited by this Brock Holt signing.

[mtrebs]

I wonder if this could be insurance in case Urias's hand injury doesn't recover very quickly.

[recte44]

I wonder if this could be insurance in case Urias's hand injury doesn't recover very quickly.

 

This and initially an upgrade over Rodriguez for the 26th spot on the roster. Nice signing.

[pacopete4]

Great depth signing.

[StearnsFTW]

Pending contract could prove to be an excellent signing. NL type player with the versatility.

[Oxy]

Can we trade Sogard now? I like Holt better, although Sogard can play SS. It seems redundant, unless Urias is out for a significant time.

[JosephC]

Hiura isn't ready defensively. Now they can put him a AAA for the first four months of the season where he can improve his defense and the Brewers will gain another year of control.

 

No, I'm not serious...just want to see the reactions to this idea.

[brewerfan82]

Great comment exchange here

 

[Eye Black]

Most likely unrelated, but curious timing for the signing to be immediately after the arbitration win over Hader (and resolution with Suter).

[Never Outhustled]

Good addition. Better hitter than Gamel, plus he can play all over the field. Short swing should allow him to function well as PH.

[brewerfan82]

Three year splits for reference

 

2017-19 vs RHP:

 

2017-19 vs LHP:

 

 

Although looks like his splits are even bigger if you only take the past two seasons...

 

2018-19 vs RHP:

 

2018-19 vs LHP:

 

 

Either way, he looks like a good compliment to Gyork-gard.

[SRB]

Once Urias is healthy, Arcia is probably headed to the minors unless he finally impresses with the bat.

 

I like this Swiss-army roster!

[645]

Wow, A fielder who can play every single spot in the field and have done so.

 

So I guess that makes him a guy that was going to be signed by the brewers sooner or later.

 

So nothing to be seen here that's a signing the Brewers have made many times before.

[Bulldogboy]

Good sign. To me Sogard and Holt cancel each other out. Not sure we need both. Seems like Arcia better come ready to go also. They are building enough options to move on from him if he's not making improvements.

[wildcat2237]

Huge fan of the signing. I'm into high OBP, especially right before Yelich in the lineup. Holt has figured out the OBP game the last few years.

 

Could Arcia and Urias both be headed to AAA?

[brewerfan82]

If you want see some surprising splits, take a look at the two year comparisons of Sogard/Gyorko/Holt vs Moustakas/Shaw/Perez:

 

2018-19 vs RHP:

 

2018-19 vs LHP:

[MrTPlush]

It is a nice bat for the back end of the roster...I always enjoy bench bats that can hit a bit.

 

To me this is entirely unrelated to Urias.

[Oxy]

Those splits explain a lot. I assumed Sogard had typical lefty splits (like Holt/Shaw), but I guess not. Holt is needed.

[Oxy]

It is a nice bat for the back end of the roster...I always enjoy bench bats that can hit a bit.

 

To me this is entirely unrelated to Urias.

 

Why would he not be the starting 3B against righties? He's going to get a lot of ABs. As many as Gyorko, Arcia, Braun and Smoak. I think it pushes Sogard over to SS to split time with Arcia. CC has a lot of options, anyway.

[Eye Black]

Here is a fun MLB.com Cut 4 story on Brock Holt from 2018, Utility superhero Brock Holt is also the best musician on the Red Sox

[CheeseheadInQC]

My apologies in advance and if anyone already made this reference...

 

The Brewers signed (throws hands in air) Brock Holt.

 

In all seriousness, seems like a good depth signing, but unsure what it means for the roster construction.

[Ennder]

Very happy with this one. Not worried at all about the infield anymore. Even if 4 of the darts they threw at the IF this year are completely worthless they still have things covered with decent players. (I'm including Healy and Morrison here which I think are likely 2 fails right off the top).

 

I still don't get the Sogard hate btw. He has been an above league average hitter 2 of the past 3 years. I guess that bad 113 PA he had with the Brewers in 2018 is just so set in people's minds that there is no reason he can be a decent player? Since the start of 2017 including that awful stretch in 2018 he is a league average hitter. He is a slightly above average fielder at multiple positions (though not SS, he can't be more than a spot start at SS). Not sure why so many people think he has no value.

[MrTPlush]

It is a nice bat for the back end of the roster...I always enjoy bench bats that can hit a bit.

 

To me this is entirely unrelated to Urias.

 

Why would he not be the starting 3B against righties? He's going to get a lot of ABs. As many as Gyorko, Arcia, Braun and Smoak. I think it pushes Sogard over to SS to split time with Arcia. CC has a lot of options, anyway.

 

No one said a back end of the roster guy can’t start. They may have many back end of the roster types, but they should have a better bench at all times than most teams have. The value (hopefully) of the PHs and platoon advantages should hopefully outweigh the fact many of these guys independently are not really that good.

 

It may also benefit the Brewers tendencies to pull starters early. Better bench bats hopefully gives you better plate appearances when you have a pitcher bat that one less time in a game.