Kolten Wong to Brewers

[Eye Black]

Done according to Jon Morosi:

 

Kolten Wong and the Brewers have agreed to terms on a multiyear contract, source says. Ken Rosenthal was first to report the teams were in serious talks.

 

Per Ken Rosenthal:

 

Free-agent second baseman Kolten Wong in agreement with Brewers on two-year, $18M contract with a third-year club option, pending physical, source tells

[JDBrewCrew]

Jon Morosi

@jonmorosi

·

1m

Kolten Wong and the #Brewers have agreed to terms on a multiyear contract, source says.

@Ken_Rosenthal

was first to report the teams were in serious talks.

@MLB

 

@MLBNetwork

[iKezims]

We did something boys. Lets enjoy it for a bit.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

2 years, $18 million, with a 3rd year team option. Could be 3 years, $26 million if option is exercised.

[wibadgers23]

2 years, $18 million? Holy smokes!

[yoshii8]

I was ok with this, until I saw the numbers. Now I'm less ok with it. I'm guessing this pushes Hiura to 1b?

[wibadgers23]

Hiura definitely goes to 1B or something wild happens and he’s on the move.

[folly412]

Always thought he was a decent player. Gets on base and doesn't strikeout a ton. Looks like 16 games in the outfield in 2016, otherwise every inning at 2B. Curious to figure out how that will work.

[JimH5]

I like this signing, mostly because it shows the organization's willingness to move away from preconceived notions of player roles.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Yet another case of Stearns zagging when we're all thinking zig. This came completely out of nowhere!

 

I do like that it hurts the Cardinals too.

[adambr2]

We did something!

[patrickgpe]

i like it too. The options at 1st and 3rd free agent wise were not inspiring. you improve the defense of the club and get a good OBP guy and leadoff hitter and move a bad defender to 1st. He will have a full spring to learn the position.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Kolten Wong has career .855 OPS at American Family Field.

 

That seems good.

[torts]

I like it!

[MrTPlush]

We will see if they keep Hiura and if he can even be competent at 1B. Dude struggles getting a ground ball...you expect him to pick them out of the dirt at 1B? Yikes, we need the DH.

 

I’d wonder if they would try to hide his defense in LF, but they just gave Yelich millions and let him move back there. Doubt they would go tell him to go back over to RF.

 

Hopefully this isn’t Avisail Garcia 2.0.

[wallus]

He signed for much more than I was expecting, not that it means it's a bad move.

[adambr2]

I was ok with this, until I saw the numbers. Now I'm less ok with it. I'm guessing this pushes Hiura to 1b?

 

Wong has averaged 3-4 WAR per season the last 3 seasons, depending on whether you go by bWAR or fWAR (prorating for 2020). Not sure why he would be assumed to be cheap.

 

I like the 3rd option year as well. I think the contract is in an expected range.

[brewerfan82]

I like the addition, it will be interesting to see though if that $9M basically closes the book on adding anything significant to 1B, 3B, or SP. That said, if trades start happening, it could be a wild ride.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

We will see if they keep Hiura and if he can even be competent at 1B. Dude struggles getting a ground ball...you expect him to pick them out of the dirt at 1B? Yikes, we need the DH.

 

I’d wonder if they would try to hide his defense in LF, but they just gave Yelich millions and let him move back there. Doubt they would go tell him to go back over to RF.

 

Yelich and his Tebow arm can go play 1B. He was a regular 1B in HS.

[RollieTime]

Love the signing!! Hiura to first is most likely or possibly a big trade for a third baseman with Hiura on the move? I doubt it since he’s cheap, but it sure got exciting today!

[trwi7]

He can play defense but he's not a good hitter at all. Not really sure why we gave him this much for multiple years.

[wibadgers23]

This gives the Brewers the ability to trade Hiura for an absolute stud 3B or 1B, if they want. I like this move a lot.

[MrTPlush]

We will see if they keep Hiura and if he can even be competent at 1B. Dude struggles getting a ground ball...you expect him to pick them out of the dirt at 1B? Yikes, we need the DH.

 

I’d wonder if they would try to hide his defense in LF, but they just gave Yelich millions and let him move back there. Doubt they would go tell him to go back over to RF.

 

Yelich and his Tebow arm can go play 1B. He was a regular 1B in HS.

 

Extending Yelich was a bad idea to begin with, moving him to first before 30 would make the extension even more dumb. I just can’t see it.

 

And even putting Hiura in LF would be horrid...probably worst in baseball, just a guess though. Pretty much impossible to hide his defense.

[TURBO]

That is a lot of $, wow. It seems like we could spend that kind of money elsewhere.

 

His offense is not a needle mover by any means.

 

I want to like it, but I just can't.

 

I am wondering if this is just a part of a flurry of moves on the horixzon?

[Lathund]

Yet another case of Stearns zagging when we're all thinking zig. This came completely out of nowhere!

 

I do like that it hurts the Cardinals too.

 

Yeah. we should really expect Stearns to not solve problems in the expected way at this point. And not a whisper about it until it actually happens.

 

Did not expect this at all. But with the highest groundball % in all of baseball last year, middle infield defense makes sense to focus on. Wong gets on base, doesn't strike out much, runs the bases well. And is the best defensive 2B in the majors. Wong-Turang is a seriously good defensive infield. Hoping Turangs bat comes along fast enough to get to see the two of them together.

 

Averaging his rWAR and fWAR over the last 3 seasons:

2018: 3 WAR

2019: 4.4 WAR

2020: 1.3 WAR - Prorates to 3.5 WAR for a full season.

 

Pretty damn good for $9m AAV. It's for his age 30, 31 (and potentially 32) seasons so decline shouldn't be much of a concern.

 

And going away from strictly if it's an objectively good signing or not, I at least think it's a fun one. I like watching good defense, I like good baserunning, and it seems the Cardinals fans are not happy about this and I like that too.