Brewers trade for 1B Rowdy Tellez from Blue Jays

[BallFour]

What’s interesting about his minor league stats is he had some solid wRC+ numbers despite the OPS looking less than impressive. He was also extremely young for most of the levels he played in the minors.

 

Here’s a look, understanding some of these are small samples (listed plate appearances at each level):

 

2013: Rookie / Age 18 (-1.4 AgeDiff) / 141 PA / .690 OPS / 105 wRC+

2014: Rookie / Age 19 (-1.3 AgeDiff) / 219 PA / .782 OPS / 125 wRC+

2014: Low-A / Age 19 (-2.5 AgeDiff) / 49 PA / .949 OPS / 176 wRC+

2015: Low-A / Age 20 (-1.4 AgeDiff) / 270 PA / .796 OPS / 130 wRC+

2015: High-A / Age 20 (-2.7 AgeDiff) / 131 PA / .811 OPS / 143 wRC+

2016: Double-A / Age 21 (-3.4 AgeDiff) / 514 PA / .917 OPS / 152 wRC+

2017: Triple-A / Age 22 (-4.7 AgeDiff) / 501 PA / .628 OPS / 73 wRC+

2018: Triple-A / Age 23 (-3.5 AgeDiff) / 444 PA / .765 OPS / 115 wRC+

2019: Triple-A / Age 24 (-2.9 AgeDiff) / 109 PA / 1.138 OPS / 186 wRC+

2021: Triple-A / Age 26 (-0.8 AgeDiff) / 55 PA / 1.038 OPS / 172 wRC+

 

Some of this appears due to the fact that several of the leagues he played in throughout the minors (Midwest League, Florida State League, Eastern League, International League), weren’t as OPS friendly as we find elsewhere in some of their counterpart leagues (i.e. California League, Texas League, Pacific Coast League).

 

I did see the age differential, which factors into the late bloomer hope. B

 

ut I didn't see wRC+ on milb.com or baseballreference for minor league stats. I wondered about how Buffalo was to hit at compared to Nashville, but wasn't sure where to look. What site did you use?

 

See? Now you are getting my hopes up again.

 

 

WRC+ Is a fangraphs creation if I am not mistaken

[MrTPlush]

Not sure Tellez is a late bloomer. a .943 OPS at 23 sounds pretty good. Even a .742 OPS at 24 sounds pretty decent. .886 OPS at 25.

 

He just really hasn't go much of a long term shot yet.

[Eye Black]

[i did see the age differential, which factors into the late bloomer hope.

 

But I didn't see wRC+ on milb.com or baseballreference for minor league stats. I wondered about how Buffalo was to hit at compared to Nashville, but wasn't sure where to look. What site did you use?

 

See? Now you are getting my hopes up again.

wRC+ is listed on the FanGraphs player pages, and is at least helpful in determining how they performed relative to their league since we know league specific run environments can sway heavily from league-to-league (and among many parks) throughout the minors.

[brewcrewdue80]

I look forward to eating crow and being wrong but how can anyone take these projections seriously that would have Rowdy with an OPS over .800.

 

Thankfully these projections are based on logic and career numbers, and not 130 rough plate appearances. Tellez has always hit. He hit in the minors. He hit as a rookie call-up in 2018. He hit (albeit not as well, although HR numbers were good) in a longer audition in 2019. He hit very well last year. You are seeing something negative that you apparently want to see with him that the numbers and projections simply don't support.

 

I don't think a 752 OPS at AAA and under 800 in his minor league career constitutes as a "hitter". As I mentioned previously, he did well the last two years (over 1.000 OPS), but when I look at his MiLB career, I don't see a hitter profile. He does OK, but we have AAAA players hitting 900-1000 OPS at AAA, but can't hit a lick at the MLB level.

 

Saying he has "always" hit is not correct. A late bloomer, perhaps.

 

His 1st 2 years in AAA, he was 5.4 and 4.7 years younger than average AAA player those years of 22/23. It is something a HS draft pick sees is a short time frame to excel or see that team have you on 40man or expose to Rule 5. We're thrilled with Mitchell's performance at A+ and Tellez was playing AAA at same age.

 

I'm not going to say late bloomer so much as progression. He's outgrown AAA and is a ML player much like Tyrone Taylor (drafted out of HS) has progressed from after-thought to some here wishing he'd be an every day starter over JBJ.

Tellez's single yesterday I recall seeing over 114MPH EV. He's increased his age 24-25 EV average by 2MPH age 26 thus far. You know that 1st or 2nd year you call prime.

If he progresses like AAA trend this will seriously be a steal when carrying .850+ OPS at 1st base cheaply.

[Soupbone]

Why trade for Tellez if he is not going to play? Seems like a waste of trade assets.

[Jopal78]

Why trade for Tellez if he is not going to play? Seems like a waste of trade assets.

 

Right, I get it- he has an option; but they gave up a lot for a guy who’s seemingly third on the depth chart behind Hiura and his .600 OPS and now Peterson

[liveforoctober]

Why trade for Tellez if he is not going to play? Seems like a waste of trade assets.

 

Because Jace Peterson has arguably had the most consistent bat in our lineup the last 3+ weeks. Would you rather Tellez be hitting right now or Peterson?

[brewmann04]

I have to say Jace is a big bright spot.

[adambr2]

Why trade for Tellez if he is not going to play? Seems like a waste of trade assets.

 

Because Jace Peterson has arguably had the most consistent bat in our lineup the last 3+ weeks. Would you rather Tellez be hitting right now or Peterson?

 

I think the point was questioning if there was really a need to trade for Rowdy in the first place, not whether he should currently be playing over Jace.

[liveforoctober]

Why trade for Tellez if he is not going to play? Seems like a waste of trade assets.

 

Because Jace Peterson has arguably had the most consistent bat in our lineup the last 3+ weeks. Would you rather Tellez be hitting right now or Peterson?

 

I think the point was questioning if there was really a need to trade for Rowdy in the first place, not whether he should currently be playing over Jace.

 

I get it, but it was a small piece of insurance that cost us only Trevor Richards. It Wong's injury doesn't heal as expected and Vogelbach is out for the full duration of his expected time frame - we are running out Hiura exclusively until Shaw comes back? Tellez could very well end up not getting 50 at bats with us this year but I personally still wouldn't be upset with the move. We covered a 'what if' scenario and it didn't cost us anything. Cousins and Sanchez made Richards expendable. I'm happy Wong is back and we don't need Rowdy.

[PeaveyFury]

Why trade for Tellez if he is not going to play? Seems like a waste of trade assets.

 

Right, I get it- he has an option; but they gave up a lot for a guy who’s seemingly third on the depth chart behind Hiura and his .600 OPS and now Peterson

 

Trevor Richards is a lot? I couldn’t disagree more, personally.

[JohnBriggs12]

Trevor Richards has been a very effective reliever. Overall in 2021 he's fanned 12.1 per 9 innings. He's under 30 and controllable for 3 more seasons. That's plenty for a guy who'll be back in AAA as soon as either Shaw or Vogelbach are back. He was serviceable in 2019 for Jays and good in 35 games in 2020 but this year he was struggling with a .610 OPS. It's not like it was a terrible trade, but the timing was curious and the fact he's gotten very limited action confirms that. Sure Adames was struggling before he was acquired but he went right in the lineup on day one.

 

I still think it's possible that Tellez was traded for to be used as return for a more accomplished bat. Maybe someone like Carlos Santana? He makes more sense for KC than he does for Brewers.

[PeaveyFury]

Trevor Richards is the definition of an acceptable, completely replaceable bullpen arm. Tellez is only a non-asset if you only focus on his outlier 2021 YTD numbers rather than the rest of his MLB career, where he basically outproduced all of the other Brewers' 1B options.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Trevor Richards has been a very effective reliever. Overall in 2021 he's fanned 12.1 per 9 innings. He's under 30 and controllable for 3 more seasons. That's plenty for a guy who'll be back in AAA as soon as either Shaw or Vogelbach are back. He was serviceable in 2019 for Jays and good in 35 games in 2020 but this year he was struggling with a .610 OPS. It's not like it was a terrible trade, but the timing was curious and the fact he's gotten very limited action confirms that. Sure Adames was struggling before he was acquired but he went right in the lineup on day one.

 

I still think it's possible that Tellez was traded for to be used as return for a more accomplished bat. Maybe someone like Carlos Santana? He makes more sense for KC than he does for Brewers.

 

I was just thinking that Tellez would be a perfect target for the Orioles to acquire as part of a package for Mancini.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Its pretty unusual to trade for a player with the intention of then packaging him for another player. Not saying it does not happen, just that its rare and I cannot think of an example. More common (well, still rare) is a 3 team trade to get all the pieces you need.

[folly412]

Trevor Richards is the definition of an acceptable, completely replaceable bullpen arm. Tellez is only a non-asset if you only focus on his outlier 2021 YTD numbers rather than the rest of his MLB career, where he basically outproduced all of the other Brewers' 1B options.

 

Exactly correct. Richards is Generic Bullpen Guy. We have a pretty good bullpen, and can easily get another Richards in the next couple weeks, maybe even call one up.

 

Francis was the bigger give. Tough parting with a reliable MiLB starter whose clock hasn't started. Even so, there's a good chance he never amounts to more than a Generic Bullpen Guy himself. And if he debuts looking like Bettinger has, his trade value plummets to zero quickly.

[adambr2]

Trevor Richards is the definition of an acceptable, completely replaceable bullpen arm. Tellez is only a non-asset if you only focus on his outlier 2021 YTD numbers rather than the rest of his MLB career, where he basically outproduced all of the other Brewers' 1B options.

 

Exactly correct. Richards is Generic Bullpen Guy. We have a pretty good bullpen, and can easily get another Richards in the next couple weeks, maybe even call one up.

 

Francis was the bigger give. Tough parting with a reliable MiLB starter whose clock hasn't started. Even so, there's a good chance he never amounts to more than a Generic Bullpen Guy himself. And if he debuts looking like Bettinger has, his trade value plummets to zero quickly.

 

Francis is a nothing burger. He's one of those "Classic Organizational Depth" guys. Not impossible that he makes it but nothing really to see there outside the borderline MLB Aaron Wilkerson's of the world.

 

Richards is nothing special, but given the two I'll take the guy with over 300 not bad innings at the MLB level. He is indeed Generic Bullpen Guy but I'll take Generic Bullpen Guy over Josh Lindblom or Eric Yardley.

[lynchmobster]

This thread seems to have languished with all the trade deadline transactions. So, how about Rowdy's performance now that he's getting some playing time? Obviously a small sample set....

.357/.440/.690/4 HR/12 RBI/194 wRC+

https://reviewingthebrew.com/2021/07/31/brewers-rowdy-tellez-giving-needed-production-first/

[DoubleSwitch]

If he can maintain a strikeout rate in the teens he will be very useful player with all his power.

[LouisEly]

Before the PIT series, the Brewers were last in the NL in B-R.com's Wins Above Average at 1B. After the PIT series they had moved up to 2nd to last.

[pacopete4]

A lefty bat that hits lefties better? You don’t see that often.

 

He sure does! What a bomb today! Play Rowdy. Win World Series.

 

 

Rowdy Tellez in 21 Games w/ MIL:

 

.340/.438/.660 (1.098 OPS)

 

18 H, 9 BB, 5 HR, 16 RBI

[tigerbrew]

Rowdy Tellez is a perfect baseball name.

[igor67]

Listening to the chants for him Monday night on TV was both fantastic, and also seemed straight out of Major League.

[sveumrules]

After Portis resigned I ordered one of those Bobby!! Bobby!! Bobby!! shirts.

 

Hopefully after the Brewers win the whole dang enchilada someone will make one for Rowdy!! Rowdy!! Rowdy!!

[NYChez]

Rowdy’s pinch hit home run against the Pirates raised the Brewers’ championship win probability by 0.27%. That’s a lot for one at bat in August.