Luis Urias to the Red Sox

[markedman5]

Could always pick up this guy…….

 

[Joseph Zarr]

Ohhhhhhh, I really like Blalock. He has some rising gas - works 93-96ish. Noice. This is very surprising trade. And, stoked to see him in the Brewers system! Pitchers. Pitchers. Pitchers. Gimme gimme gimme. Good slider. Good curve. This is a fun surprising trade. 

[StearnsFTW]

I have an irrational love for Luis, but this kid sounds pretty decent.

 

Hope we stay relatively injury free at 3B

[umphrey]

Probably not a trade I would have made but Blalock is an interesting add. Wonder if they will use him as starter or reliever. I don’t know why they refused to play Urias at 2B. Turang isn’t hitting. 

[Jopal78]

2 minutes ago, wallus said:

That Grisham trade went from a loss to a win to a loss again.... how the turntables

Yeah, I was just thinking of that. They gave up the best player and the two guys they got were in the minors, now one is gone

[Outlander]

Would rather have Urias up instead of Turang but obviously not in the Brewers plans so might as well get a pitching prospect before a non tender in the off season.

[markedman5]

2 minutes ago, umphrey said:

Probably not a trade I would have made but Blalock is an interesting add. Wonder if they will use him as starter or reliever. I don’t know why they refused to play Urias at 2B. Turang isn’t hitting. 

Because Urias was hitting worse?

[Joseph Zarr]

I randomly watch Minor League outings throughout the year beyond the Brewers system. I actually watched this tilt, fwiw. Really nice outing. Was the first time I became intrigued by Blalock. This is one of those rare instances where a guy I randomly watch within a Minor League season is actually acquired by the Crew😅. Check out the breaking ball at 0:40. This is what we would call 'nasty' in High-A. That pitch was dirty.

[umphrey]

3 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

Because Urias was hitting worse?

Their wRC+ is identical. Urias had about 60 PAs this year and Turang about 270. Urias is projected better and has 2 solid seasons under his belt. I am pretty confused why they gave Urias 60 PAs and gave up on him completely. 

[edfunderburk]

12 minutes ago, wallus said:

That Grisham trade went from a loss to a win to a loss again.... how the turntables

Curious to know - What is Grisham hitting this year?

I’m sitting at a Mexican Restaurant in DFW 10 minutes from where he (Trent Clark at the time) played high school baseball. 

[beekay414]

I would not be shocked if we fast track Blalock as a bullpen piece. I love this deal. Urias had no future here IMO. The writing was on the wall with the Wilken and Boeve selections and his likely non-tender next year. 

[adambr2]

I'm tempering my optimism on Blalock a lot more than most. He's coming off a major injury and just made High A at age 22. He was the 43rd ranked prospect in the Red Sox system. He's about as much of a lottery ticket as a prospect can get. 

If we had sold Urias for Blalock 4 months ago, this board would have surrounded Arnold's house with pitchforks. 

[Oxy]

4 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

I'm tempering my optimism on Blalock a lot more than most. He's coming off a major injury and just made High A at age 22. He was the 43rd ranked prospect in the Red Sox system. He's about as much of a lottery ticket as a prospect can get. 

If we had sold Urias for Blalock 4 months ago, this board would have surrounded Arnold's house with pitchforks. 

Fangraphs had him at #17 in The Sox system BEFORE the season.

Also, Turang is a lefty with elite defense....a completely different role than Urias.  If the Brewers think Monasterio and/or Toro are just as good as Urias, well, it's an easy decision to offload him before non-tendering him.  He wasn't going to help us this year anyway.

[Joseph Zarr]

1 minute ago, adambr2 said:

I'm tempering my optimism on Blalock a lot more than most. He's coming off a major injury and just made High A at age 22. He was the 43rd ranked prospect in the Red Sox system. He's about as much of a lottery ticket as a prospect can get. 

If we had sold Urias for Blalock 4 months ago, this board would have surrounded Arnold's house with pitchforks. 

And, yet, here we are four months later...and Urias was in Triple-A and behind the depth chart featuring Andruw Monasterio, Brice Turang, and Abraham Toro. SO...

Sometimes, a change of scenery and a lottery ticket is exactly what is in the cards for all parties. 

Best of luck to Luis. Sincerely. But, the writing was on the wall when he was optioned. I would casually opine (without an ounce of inside the clubhouse intel) his antics may have worn thin on the coaching staffs. I saw several body language signs in Nashville that I, as a serious observer, was quite wary of.

[Austin Tatious]

The Brewers are in process of having a number of prospects graduate to the big league club, into next season, and they are doing a bang up job replenishing the system for the next wave.  

[beekay414]

Just now, Oxy said:

Fangraphs had him at #17 in The Sox system BEFORE the season.

That list came out on June 12th. They had him at #36 in March of 2022 with a 35+ grade but that was Kevin Goldstein. Eric Longenhagen has him at #17 with a 40+ grade now.

[LouisEly]

20 minutes ago, patrickgpe said:

I hate selling low in someone but let’s see the return which won’t be much 

He didn't have much if any time left to turn it around.  As others have said, unlikely that the Brewers would have brought him back at $5M next year, so they got something for him and have three years of options on Blalock and plenty of 40-man spots if they want to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

[edfunderburk]

3 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Sometimes, a change of scenery and a lottery ticket is exactly what is in the cards for all parties. 

I agree … I was hoping Hiura might also be a “change of scenery” candidate

[wallus]

Was part of this a salary dump for our other pickups? 

[sveumrules]

2 minutes ago, wallus said:

Was part of this a salary dump for our other pickups? 

Think that’s definitely part of it.

Change of scenery for Luis, get a talented arm back, offset some of the salary they acquired.

[RobertCrawley]

38 minutes ago, mudbutt said:

I don't think the Brewers would have offered Urias the 5 mil plus arbitration he would have cost in the offseason.

Yep. Hate to see him go though. He’s a good ballplayer. 

[MilwaukeeBeers]

Good riddance to Urias. I am loving the Matt Arnold experience so far. Another one of Stearns' poor deals that he could turn around. 

[MilwaukeeBeers]

16 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Think that’s definitely part of it.

Change of scenery for Luis, get a talented arm back, offset some of the salary they acquired.

Whose salary would it be? Chafin? Canha was paid down to the league minimum lol. But hey remember when our owner said adding salary at the deadline was not a problem. Urias stunk so I am not upset about the deal itself just the principle of things surrounding the money. 

[Matt Breen]

I was always a fan of Urias. I thought he could be a .250-.260 hitter with 20 HR and solid defense at 2B and 3B. Something always held him back. Injuries, slumps, etc. This year was just a disaster. I’m guessing a change of scenery was needed. It seems clear the org no longer trusted him. Better get something now than just keep paying him for the year, and just non tender him in the offseason.

[BrewerFan]

55 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

Could always pick up this guy…….

 

I would be all for it...he's released, we don't have to pick up his salary. His Exit Velo, hard hit rate is pretty close to his career numbers. Hits LHPing well. 

Take a flier on him....if he chooses to come back and play for the Brewers. I get he's been terrible this year, but he was good last year and he provides versatility.