2021 Free Agents

[MVP2110]

I don't expect 2b to be a strict platoon by any means. That said Wong does have worse stats against lefties so I would expect his days off would come against lefties

[wallus]

 

Not sure why Wong would ever sit in favor of Robertson. That seems unlikely.

 

.652 Career OPS against leftys. There aren't many LHPs in the Central so it will be a good way to give him days off.

[Jopal78]

Really the dominos are starting to fall. I’m sure the Brewers have had these offers out there for sometime and with camp but a few days away, players without deals are starting to accept the best that’s out there. I wouldn’t be totally surprised if Gyorko is back on a lesser contract. Great utility player not totally inept with the bat.

[RollieTime]

On the days we face lefties, I imagine Urias will slide over to 2B with Wong starting the game on the bench before being double switched into the game later on.

[TURBO]

Wong isn't going to be sitting with the kind of cash we spent on him.

 

That is crazy talk.

[pacopete4]

While Wong doesn't carry much power against left-handed pitching, he holds his own. He won't be sitting much and shouldn't be. Heck, in 2019, his OPS was mid 700's against LHP's. He may get the occasional day off but he shouldn't be sitting much at all.

[RollieTime]

It won’t be a strict platoon where he’s not in the lineup every time we face a lefty, but I wouldn’t be surprised to have Wong on the bench for ~25 games during the season when a lefty is on the mound.

[wallus]

It won’t be a strict platoon where he’s not in the lineup every time we face a lefty, but I wouldn’t be surprised to have Wong on the bench for ~25 games during the season when a lefty is on the mound.

 

Exactly. There might only be 2-3 lefty starters in the division anyways.

[SRB]

I think Wong is a safe bet to finish second in games started behind Yelich. Almost no way is he getting benched regularly. His numbers against LHP are not even bad over the last three or four seasons, as was discussed at length in his signing thread.

[wallus]

I think Wong is a safe bet to finish second in games started behind Yelich.

 

I would bet against that easily.

[brewerfan82]

I think Wong is a safe bet to finish second in games started behind Yelich.

 

I would bet against that easily.

I have to agree. Hiura will probably be in there everyday (at least to start the game), but I would bet Wong is next in line and then there might be quite a gap to the next guy after that (depending on how Cain's season goes).

[SRB]

Fair point about Hiura, who might also see a few games at 2B. Whether Wong ends up ranking second or third though, I think he's one of the few guaranteed everyday starters on the roster.

[MVP2110]

Now that we have Shaw & Anderson back. The last move I'd like to see made is to bring back Braun in early March. Him Cain & Garcia can rotate days off. Gives us a really darn good fourth outfielder and frankly I don't trust any of Mckinney, Fisher, Taylor, Ray, or Lopes if something happens to one of our starters

[CheezWizHed]

For those without Twitter:

 

Free-agent left-hander Brett Anderson in serious discussions with Brewers, sources tell @TheAthletic.

I like this move.

 

Side note: On a desktop or laptop computer, you don't need to be a Twitter member for the link to work. Should also work in the web browser on your phone or tablet.

 

While true, it is nice to put context to the link so people don't have to follow it. Sometimes work filters block links to various sources (often Twitter).

[JohnBriggs12]

Now that we have Shaw & Anderson back. The last move I'd like to see made is to bring back Braun in early March. Him Cain & Garcia can rotate days off. Gives us a really darn good fourth outfielder and frankly I don't trust any of Mckinney, Fisher, Taylor, Ray, or Lopes if something happens to one of our starters

 

The deals for Anderson and Shaw shouldn't preclude them bringing back Braun, who I think can be persuaded if the protocols are eased and there are fans in the stands. Covid cases are dropping throughout the country as vaccine distribution ramps up and there's widespread immunity if not total herd immunity. Baseball can't be like the schools that are afraid to open up. We need fans and fear to go away.

[Lathund]

The other thing, maybe I’m wrong but, at this particular time, the FO seems loath to trade off any good prospects to make a move. We do not have much in the way of imminent additions outside of relievers, but over time, our lineup can potentially be jumpstarted by a number of prospects. The FO, having experienced this period where there are no reinforcements coming, probably doesn’t want this to continue in the future until we are more set with juice added by younger talent.

 

And they're absolutely right not to trade their better prospects when there's so little in the upper minors. As you say, when there are few additions from within you're put in a situation of needing to consider trades of prospects to fill even low-impact roles, or you have to rely on multiple low and mid-level FAs every year just to fill the roster. It's not very sustainable. And if you keep making those trades, you'll never get out of that situation. You need to graduate prospects to your major league roster, even when they're not superstars. So guys like Mitchell and Turang have the kind of profile (Speed, defense, plate discipline, decent hit tool) that they are highly likely to make, and stay on, the MLB roster. What they lack, and are probably unlikely to unlock, is HR power, which is why they're not higher rated; they're very unlikely to be superstars. Yet so many fans seem eager to trade them away for 1-2 years of admittedly very good players. Which just leaves big and hard to fill holes on the roster going forward.

 

Gotta think more long term. You can trade from the farm when it's strong, when making those trades does not create holes on the roster. Even just filling roles like backup catchers, infield utility, middle relief, 5th starter etc means that's less money you need to spend on over the hill veterans for those roles. Which is how you get to have money for free agents and for extending the players you want to keep.

[DR28]

I honestly wouldnt mind another bullpen arm... Guys like Shane Greene, Tyler Clippard, Roberto Osuna, JJ, Chaz Roe, etc are still sitting out there.

[Jopal78]

What are the odds the Brewers are waiting on Gyorko to accept a NRI?

 

Shaw doesn’t hit lefties, Hiura hasn’t hit lefties so far. It seems there is a fit there for a bench player who has a history of hitting left handed pitching and can play all over the infield.

 

Maybe Gyorko is holding out for a guarantee from a club, or a situation where he has a chance to start.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

So ... the Brewers were looking at Trevor Rosenthal. That is interesting.

 

Now, there are several solid relievers out there yet. One who I haven't heard much about, though, who had a nice season last year, is Jeremy Jeffress. I wonder if a reunion may be in order?

[titletownking]

So ... the Brewers were looking at Trevor Rosenthal. That is interesting.

 

Now, there are several solid relievers out there yet. One who I haven't heard much about, though, who had a nice season last year, is Jeremy Jeffress. I wonder if a reunion may be in order?

 

 

I would love a Jeffress return but as we’ve learned with Stearns. He values individual over position. What I mean by that is just because he was interested in Rosenthal doesn’t mean he’s interested in adding another reliever. It’s the BPA theory.

[wibadgers23]

Since it seems they were willing to spend quite a bit of money on Rosenthal, could they shift to Walker or Odorizzi and go with a 6 man rotation (or move Houser to the bullpen)? If they could get one of those guys on a one year prove it type deal, I could maybe see it.

[Warning Track Power]

Now, there are several solid relievers out there yet. One who I haven't heard much about, though, who had a nice season last year, is Jeremy Jeffress. I wonder if a reunion may be in order?

As much as we all tend to love Jeffress, I think that ship has sailed. In 2020, that 1.54 ERA was masked by a 4.09 FIP and 4.69 xFIP.

[brewerfan82]

Interesting to hear they're still in on relievers, and not just guys that would come on a NRI. There are a few interesting arms still out there among the 33 relievers listed on FanGraph's free agent tracker:

 

2018-20:

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Now, there are several solid relievers out there yet. One who I haven't heard much about, though, who had a nice season last year, is Jeremy Jeffress. I wonder if a reunion may be in order?

As much as we all tend to love Jeffress, I think that ship has sailed. In 2020, that 1.54 ERA was masked by a 4.09 FIP and 4.69 xFIP.

 

I think I'm just a sucker for redemption archs LOL.

[adambr2]

Oof. 11M is a little too much for Rosenthal. Jake McGee would be a nice consolation prize if we're still looking at relievers.