Three-way trade with A's, Braves; Brewers get William Contreras

[jonescm128]

Just now, trwi7 said:

This is an incredible deal.  When it first came down and eventually Ruiz’s name got out my first thought was ok what else and nothing else ever came and I’m stunned.

Looks like less of a fleecing if you add in the Hader deal.

Hader for Contreras, Rogers, and Gasser. 

[Harold Hutchison]

However this happened, to only give up Ruiz for five years of Contreas is huge. Why it happened? No idea. Maybe Oakland and Milwaukee couldn't work something out, so they brought Atlanta in for a deal everyone could live with.

ATL gets an upgrade over Contreras in Murphy.

OAK gets a LOT of prospects

MIL gets an upgrade at catcher who kills lefties, a couple more arms, and los of time for Quero/Miller to develop. Big loser here is Mario Feliciano, who may never get his shot at the major-league starting job.

[SRB]

Contreras, Winker, and Caratini are already an excellent mix of players to fill C/DH

Career splits:

• Contreras, +108 vs RHP, +158 vs LHP
• Winker, +136 vs RHP, +87 vs LHP
• Caratini, +83 vs RHP, +82 vs LHP

Winker hits at DH against all RHP, Contreras catches against RHP and DHs against LHP, Caratini catches against LHP and whenever needed to give Contreras a breather

 

[JosephC]

The other thing to consider is that perhaps Contreras is overvalued.  Maybe one of those guys with marginal minor league results that was a quick flash-in-the-pan in the major leagues but will end up being marginal in the majors, just like he was in the minors.

But I don't see it.  BA has him 6th in the Braves organization in the 2021 handbook (Braves system was rated 6th then, unlikely now where they have one of the worst systems in the minors).  Seems like any concerns with him was with the defense early in his career, but he had improved and had the look of being an average to good defensive players (and still seems to be on track for that by the Baseball Prospectus numbers).  He didn't hit all that much in AA, but was good before that and hit while at AAA.  Obviously he has really hit in the majors.

I just don't see anything that would merit saying Contreras is over-valued, sure looks to be solidly in the 35-40 million in surplus value in my book.

So either Ruiz has been vastly under-valued, or the A's have just botched their evaluation of him.

[Robocaller]

3 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

You let him continue develop in the lower minors and eventually force the issue a la the Blue Jays. A really good "problem" to have. 

Unless Contreras improves defensively, he becomes a DH/C, playing in the field when Quero is resting.

[Brewcrew82]

2 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

Unless Contreras improves defensively, he becomes a DH/C, playing in the field when Quero is resting.

I wouldn't put it past the Brewers to improve Contreras' value defensively, especially after what we saw with Narvaez. Even so, I agree. This trade has little impact on Quero in the long run. If anything, we have less of an incentive to rush his development...

[TURBO]

Maybe they can find an interested trading partner for Feliciano now that he is pretty much in no-man's land for the Brewers?

[Eye Black]

1 hour ago, torts said:

EVERYONE GETS A CONTRERAS!!!!!!

 

  

Except for the Cubs! Instead they’re now surrounded by Contreras brothers.

[brewcrewdue80]

5 minutes ago, TURBO said:

This thought just creeped into my head.  With Contreras signed for another 5 years (until after the 2027 season), where does Quero now fit into the plan.  I'm high on this kid, and if he is ready to go in 2024, 2025 at the latest, what do we do about it?

Trade Contreras when Quero is ready. Or split time at Catcher. Caratini is a FA after this season.  

[Brewcrew82]

Just now, TURBO said:

Maybe they can fins an interested trading partner for Feliciano now that he is pretty much in no-man's land for the Brewers?

I think he's had an opportunity to force the issue for the Brewers, but he just hasn't done so. His defense still needs quite a bit of work and even his hitting isn't anything to write home about. 

[Redd Vencher]

This is kind of like the Randy Arozarena (in 10-15 range in Cards system) trade where the Rays gave up a top 50 pitching prospect in Matt Liberatore. The value doesn't make sense using the publicly available lists, but obviously you'd want the Rays end of the trade now rather than the Cardinals.

[rickh150]

Now we are getting somewhere... a little hope.

[wallus]

RIP to me using Ruiz as a throw in for trade ideas. 

Almost makes me think there is something wrong with Contreras?

Even if he stinks, you can't get mad at this trade because it was too good to pass up on.

[Eye Black]

I’m just stunned the Brewers didn’t give up more here. Not another outfielder, not a prospect arm, not a competitive balance pick… just wow.

[owbc]

We've been waiting for them to do something to get better in 2023. Worth the wait I would say. Maybe Ruiz eventually pans out but Contreras is worth several wins for us right away, which is exactly what we needed. 

[Brewcrew82]

Just now, rickh150 said:

Now we are getting somewhere... a little hope.

Glad to have you on board! 

[Robocaller]

What is astounding to me is that Matt Arnold had the balls to say, "You know, you guys need to sweeten the deal a little bit for me. Contreras isn't enough."

[jay87shot]

It hasn't been brought up but the 2 others are strong pieces as well. 

Payamps had a 3.23 ERA in the bigs with Oak/KC was worth 1.1 WAR in 55 innings. 95 fb, 82 sl, 89 ch

Yeager had a 3.1 Era in A+,AA. With 81 ks in 52 innings (32 bb). I can't find a scouting report but a youtube video had him throwing 97 of a mound and 104 with a running start into a screen, nice looking breaking pitch as well. 

Amazing

[SRB]

9 minutes ago, JosephC said:

The other thing to consider is that perhaps Contreras is overvalued.  Maybe one of those guys with marginal minor league results that was a quick flash-in-the-pan in the major leagues but will end up being marginal in the majors, just like he was in the minors.

But I don't see it.  BA has him 6th in the Braves organization in the 2021 handbook (Braves system was rated 6th then, unlikely now where they have one of the worst systems in the minors).  Seems like any concerns with him was with the defense early in his career, but he had improved and had the look of being an average to good defensive players (and still seems to be on track for that by the Baseball Prospectus numbers).  He didn't hit all that much in AA, but was good before that and hit while at AAA.  Obviously he has really hit in the majors.

I just don't see anything that would merit saying Contreras is over-valued, sure looks to be solidly in the 35-40 million in surplus value in my book.

So either Ruiz has been vastly under-valued, or the A's have just botched their evaluation of him.

The trade suggests that Contreras is more or less valued correctly, because the Braves got a massive return here (Sean Murphy). It's just that a big part of an otherwise even trade was diverted to Milwaukee for some reason ?

[markedman5]

Can’t wait for the Gasser to Contreras battery next season or the year after!

[wallus]

3 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

It hasn't been brought up but the 2 others are strong pieces as well. 

Payamps had a 3.23 ERA in the bigs with Oak/KC was worth 1.1 WAR in 55 innings. 95 fb, 82 sl, 89 ch

Yeager had a 3.1 Era in A+,AA. With 81 ks in 52 innings (32 bb). I can't find a scouting report but a youtube video had him throwing 97 of a mound and 104 with a running start into a screen, nice looking breaking pitch as well. 

Amazing

I don't think it would have been too terrible if those two were traded for Ruiz. Ruiz HAS to be graded differently by us and the A's

[Jose Cardenal]

I keep refreshing this page and twitter to see if/when the other shoe drops.  I won't believe this trade until the Brewers officially announce it. 

[StearnsFTW]

5 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

What is astounding to me is that Matt Arnold had the balls to say, "You know, you guys need to sweeten the deal a little bit for me. Contreras isn't enough."

Had the same thought.

 

Takes balls to even ask.

[JohnBriggs12]

I love that Arnold fleeced the Braves.  They've had it coming for 57 years.

It took Arnold less than 6 months to make a more impressive deal than any in the entire Stearns tenure.

[titletownking]

18 minutes ago, TURBO said:

This thought just creeped into my head.  With Contreras signed for another 5 years (until after the 2027 season), where does Quero now fit into the plan.  I'm high on this kid, and if he is ready to go in 2024, 2025 at the latest, what do we do about it?

Worry about that then but Contreras could always be moved with control after 2025 if Quero is worthy.