Hunter Renfroe to Angels for 3 pitchers

[owbc]

Renfroe’s 2022 season reminded me of 2016 Chris Carter. In fact, 2016 Carter had a higher OPS than 2022 Renfroe. 
 

I agree with shipping him out, I don’t think he’ll be missed. The rookies will have a higher ceiling and we will probably acquire some OF depth at some point. 

[LouisEly]

3 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

And the payroll with those projections was still trending bottom 3rd in the league or right about. Mark's penny pinching and that's really all there is to it. There's a reason Stearns stepped away. Arnold was willing to be Mark's lackey, David wasn't. 

We'll see soon enough. I'll gladly eat crow if I'm wrong. 

Just a reminder that Mark Attanasio is the principal owner, but not the owner as he is one of 17 people with an ownership stake in the Brewers.

[JimH5]

5th organization in 5 years for Renfroe, so I wonder if there's something else going on with him that teams are happy to be rid of him.

It seems like a light return for a major league starting player, though I guess we should trust Arnold has a master plan.

[Eye Black]

Backend starter Eric Lauer: “It’s kind of time to put up or shut up.”

GM Matt Arnold on newly acquired pitcher Janson Junk: “We believe that he has a chance to compete for a spot in our rotation.”

 

[CheezWizHed]

22 minutes ago, StearnsFTW said:

I see we're at the-offseason-is-over point already.

Well, they did trade Renfroe for Junk... there is no denying that. ?

[jw5511986]

49 minutes ago, Axman59 said:

 

Jarred Kelenic has torn up AAA multiple years and he has yet to do jack s*** at the MLB level. He has a 66 OPS+ over two seasons in Seattle (558 PA). It's still too early to write him off but he's exhibit A showing that AAA success does not always = MLB success, especially in year 1 or 2 in the bigs.

While rolling the dice with rookie OF'ers can be exciting, my cautious side prefers to hold onto guys you know can hit MLB pitching.

Well if our rookie OFs stink at least it will put us in good shape for future classes of QB draft picks. Wait, have I confused my teams again?

[Ro Mueller]

Frelick’s the best hitter of the bunch, but we weren’t willing to call him up and start his service time clock. Instead, they made us suffer through more Cutch and Hiura PAs.

Last year, Frelick started 75 games in CF, 27 in LF, 3 in RF, but my understanding is that Mitchell and Taylor are better defensive center fielders.

I can’t help but think we’ll see Yelich DH a lot more in 2023, allowing Frelick to man LF. Let’s see.

[Matt Breen]

Renfroe's a solid player. I would have been happy to have him next season. That said, we have some good OF depth, and let's hope the money we save can be spent wisely.

[jay87shot]

It would have been nice to get one higher end prospect or make a couple of those lotto ticket prospects but not to bad. Junk looks like Jason Alexander 2.0, Peguro maybe like a younger Gustave with some upside, and Seminaris is probably just depth.

 

[Brewcrew82]

FWIW. Renfroe just doesn't have that much value at an $11 Mil. projected salary. Good player, but on his 5th team in 5 years now...

[sveumrules]

42 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

And the payroll with those projections was still trending bottom 3rd in the league or right about.

Last year the Brewers set an OD payroll record at $132M which ranked 19th in MLB.

Their previous OD payroll record of $123M in 2019 ranked 17th.

The highest OD payroll rank the Brewers have ever held according to Cots was in 2012 when they ranked 13th at $98M.

Mark A could crank OD payroll to $150M and they’d still be in the bottom half.

If there is any chance of extending Burnes or Woodruff, salary will need to be cleared elsewhere. Dealing Renfroe (& maybe Wong) gives me hope that getting one of the aces locked up this offseason is a possibility.

[brewcrewdue80]

Gotta look at the minors with these guys and see that they were rushed.  Junk likely becomes Suter role. Team may see something as a RP letting him pitch his best 2 pitches.

Peguara is a guy who was RK level in 2019 inserted to A+, AA,  traded, AA, AAA, and 3gms pitched for Angels in 2021! Then AAA to Majors with Angel's 2022.  I think his better days are ahead of him as the experience catches up.

Seminaris is your lottery ticket.  Lefty SP thus far. Do they stick with that or move him to BP and his pitches play up.

 

Dealt from depth, saved 10-11mil to use elsewhere, acquired RPs which was a need with options.  Solid trade.  Obvious trading Renfroe was to happen.  

Wong next. Then add someone or extend 1 of Burnes or Woodruff with that 20mil upfront.

[Devinep]

They better use this cost cutting to get an actual hitter since they traded away one of their few above average ones. They’re especially weak against lefty pitchers now.  I’m hoping for Abreu now 

[Harold Hutchison]

2 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

The Brewers have a slew of OFs in AAA ready to make an impact in the Majors. Opening up ABs for them while dealing away a guy with 1 year left of control and acquiring 3 young pitchers seems like a solid move

My thinking as well.

Frelick and Mitchell both ready. Taylor pretty solid. Wiemer knocking by the end of 2023... what's not to like?

And the Crew usually gets a lot out of "discards" in the bullpen.

[Joseph Zarr]

You can never take enough stabs at new arms. Junk and Peguero are interesting upper Level arms who are learning the ropes with mixed results in brief MLB stints. Given I was dead on with Strzelecki, I'll make actual judgments when I see them in live action. There's enough to work with there, however, to be mildly intrigued. Junk is a low 90's 4-seamer but he can touch 96-97 with good spin. He tosses in a Slider and a Curve (slider is the better offering) and he has worked on a change-up but he rarely uses it. He definitely could carve a niche with the Big Club. Peguero is a guy who has been sent around since he first arrived with the Yankees in 2015 - he's been sent all over and probably pushed too soon. However, he has 2 options and is 6'5" 215 - I think Sweetie and his staff will enjoy working with him and they need another piece after so many FA departures. I think Seminaris was elevated way too soon by the Angels. There was no reason to push him above Rocket City in Double-A after he was struggling to adjust after dominancing High-A. I imagine he'll start the year in Biloxi where Guerrero will be thrilled to have another Lefty starter to work with.

 

I have no idea why anyone would take issue with this trade. Hunter Renfroe is traded every off-season. We have five MLB ready OF'ers to throw in the mix with various skill sets - each of whom thrived in Triple-A. All are fast as hyeck, fun to watch, skilled in different ways, and deserving of opportunity. The Brewers needed more arms, they saved some salary cap. Fine trade.

[brewcrewdue80]

25 minutes ago, clancyphile said:

My thinking as well.

Frelick and Mitchell both ready. Taylor pretty solid. Wiemer knocking by the end of 2023... what's not to like?

And the Crew usually gets a lot out of "discards" in the bullpen.

You forgot Chourio. I don't know the team can keep his bat down a full season. He's probably kept down past Super 2 unless he struggles at AAA.

[BlightyBrew]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Last year the Brewers set an OD payroll record at $132M which ranked 19th in MLB.

Their previous OD payroll record of $123M in 2019 ranked 17th.

The highest OD payroll rank the Brewers have ever held according to Cots was in 2012 when they ranked 13th at $98M.

Mark A could crank OD payroll to $150M and they’d still be in the bottom half.

If there is any chance of extending Burnes or Woodruff, salary will need to be cleared elsewhere. Dealing Renfroe (& maybe Wong) gives me hope that getting one of the aces locked up this offseason is a possibility.

I have to be honest but if I'm Burnes or Woody I don't think I would sign an extension with Milwaukee?  What in incentive would convince either of them to sign an extension?  They know that in a couple of years not only will they get paid (more than what the Ownership Group can give them) but probably get a team that is a WS contender and not a "hope we get in the playoffs (a system that right now nearly lets in half of the teams in the playoffs) and if we get hot at the right time and the stars align, we might win".  I can't see any impact FA, even if Mark puts down his cards and soccer team, and pony ups the money, coming to Milwaukee.  If we can build a roster around Burnes and Woody might as well trade them now. 

This was a salary dump which is fine as long as some more moves are made to actually improve the roster.  Right now, you have made a lineup that isn't deep even worse with this move.  I see the Brewers having a payroll below average, but high for the Brewers, and a massive PR spin to convince fans that they are serious about winning a WS and how Mark, Matt, and Craig are challenging each other to be opportunistic to push the boat out to take bites out of the apple to take over the world and gosh golly we tried.  Just look at the banners on the outfield wall including last year's banner they will unveil next year "2022 Best Start in Franchise History" banner.  Maybe in 10 years we can have a stadium give away for the anniversary.

 

 

 

[Robocaller]

I greatly dislike this trade. The only upside is it will give ABs to one of our rookie OFs.  One of the 3 guys might make it as a reliever; I'd bet the other two never have a ML career.

They could surprise me by signing someone who is more expensive and better.

Makes us worse. If they make trades to make us worse, they should move Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames.

[Robocaller]

4 hours ago, folly412 said:

So far the Arnold strategy seems to be stockpiling relievers with ERAs in the 6s rather than the 3s.  

Moneyball--find the undervalued resources. But I don't think this is it.

 

[Robocaller]

4 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Also, it should be noted that the organization is trying to move away from streaky, all-or-nothing type hitters such as Renfroe in favor of speedy players who get on base, which our young outfield prospects all do at a high level. That will be a welcome change for many fans who have complained about our lack of offensive consistency (including me). 

so you think the cure for inconsistency is playing a bunch of rookies? If they're consistent, they will be consistently bad.

[BlightyBrew]

7 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

I greatly dislike this trade. The only upside is it will give ABs to one of our rookie OFs.  One of the 3 guys might make it as a reliever; I'd bet the other two never have a ML career.

They could surprise me by signing someone who is more expensive and better.

Makes us worse. If they make trades to make us worse, they should move Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames.

They won't because they won't spend to make the roster better or trade those guys because that would send a message to the fan base that they are re-building.  They want to walk this tight rope between being just good enough to be above .500(fingers crossed we get into the playoffs) but not going for it.  They are waiting for the perfect scenario where everything goes right which will never happen.  The only thing I know which ever plan they come up with it leads to the same result. No WS.   I can already see the narrative where they will let it leak that they offered Burnes and Woody and extension, but they turned it down.  Then they can go that see we tried.  The narrative will quickly go from opportunistic back to controllable talent and this so called Golden Age of Brewer Baseball will be part of the history books and fans can look back and say look how clever we were.

[brewcrewdue80]

23 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

I greatly dislike this trade. The only upside is it will give ABs to one of our rookie OFs.  One of the 3 guys might make it as a reliever; I'd bet the other two never have a ML career.

So you know 2 of them have already played in the ML.  

[MrTPlush]

Not really a great sign of how the off-season is going to go money wise…but freaking out before December (where things really heat up) would be a little dramatic. I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

To me it is a very clear sign Yelich is going to be in LF next year. They aren’t going to go trot out three rookies…at least not do it and expect to compete.

I also think it makes it more likely Wong us actually on the roster. They probably only planned to ever keep one and Wong was likely it. I’d rather depend on multiple OFers to figure it out versus throwing all my Edda in a basket that Turang can hit.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

So many of the posts here are focused on downplaying Renfroe which is telling. Have yet to see anyone offer up a hidden nugget uncovering what the Brewers might see in one or more of the pitchers they got in return. That's probably because none of them even have extreme youth on their side. Usually a prospect is either putting up eye popping minor league numbers or is young for the level they were playing at. That's not the case with any of these guys.

It's easy to see why the Brewers were looking to move Renfroe rather than pay what he'll get this year but they didn't have to trade him for Junk.

[Eye Black]

Baseball America Scouting Report for Janson Junk (was ranked as #14 prospect in Angels system):

 

FanGraphs article, titled “High Sliders: Junk or Genius” on Janson Junk throwing high sliders this year:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/high-sliders-junk-or-genius/