What is going on with Eric Lauer?

[kelsch]

Are they manipulating his service time? Or is it something else. Team is all quiet on him.

[wiguy94]

12 minutes ago, kelsch said:

Are they manipulating his service time? Or is it something else. Team is all quiet on him.

He's been building his arm back after a pretty lengthy time not pitching. He's also at best the 6th best SP on the team so not sure there's a role on this team for him with him being vocally pouty about being in a mixed SP/RP role in early season 2021.

[kelsch]

I think the armstrength is there snd there is more to why he is in AAA

[kelsch]

I'm wondering if they gain an extra year of team control based on days of service. 

[wiguy94]

3 minutes ago, kelsch said:

I think the armstrength is there snd there is more to why he is in AAA

He's barely holding his velo into the 2nd inning at this point. He's in AAA because he's not one of the 5 best starters on the team.

[kelsch]

Agreed, however. He began the year with 4.033 years (4 years snd 33 days) of service time. He was optioned...assigned to Nashville on July 28th. 35 days later we are at Sept. 1. If called up when rosters expand, he would finish the season 1-2 days short of 5 years of service time. The conspiracy theorist in me believes the Brewers gain an extra year of team control. (Not verified). And thus.. the lack of many reports on his progress as they rightly manipulate team control as they have enough to get by without him as he has struggled. Perhaps very smart,  shrewd under the radar move. 🤔  

[wiguy94]

4 minutes ago, kelsch said:

Agreed, however. He began the year with 4.033 years (4 years snd 33 days) of service time. He was optioned...assigned to Nashville on July 28th. 35 days later we are at Sept. 1. If called up when rosters expand, he would finish the season 1-2 days short of 5 years of service time. The conspiracy theorist in me believes the Brewers gain an extra year of team control. (Not verified). And thus.. the lack of many reports on his progress as they rightly manipulate team control as they have enough to get by without him as he has struggled. Perhaps very smart,  shrewd under the radar move. 🤔  

Lauer was optioned on June 14 not July 28.

[kelsch]

23 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Lauer was optioned on June 14 not July 28.

Agreed...but he was placed on some type of inactive list and then sent to ACL to pitch on July 28th and then back to Nashville on Aug 1. Again...how does that effect service time towards the 6 years of control. (Pic below of his transactions from mlb.com)

 

 

 

[kelsch]

3 minutes ago, kelsch said:

Agreed...but he was placed on some type of inactive list and then sent to ACL to pitch on July 28th and then back to Nashville on Aug 1. Again...hiw does that effect service time towards the 6 years of control. 

 

 

 

[wiguy94]

9 minutes ago, kelsch said:

Agreed...but he was placed on some type of inactive list and then sent to ACL to pitch on July 28th and then back to Nashville on Aug 1. Again...how does that effect service time towards the 6 years of control. (Pic below of his transactions from mlb.com)

If he's not on the active 26 man roster or the MLB IL then he's not gaining service time. Him being on the AAA inactive list doesn't make a difference to his MLB service time.

[BrewerFan]

11 hours ago, kelsch said:

Agreed, however. He began the year with 4.033 years (4 years snd 33 days) of service time. He was optioned...assigned to Nashville on July 28th. 35 days later we are at Sept. 1. If called up when rosters expand, he would finish the season 1-2 days short of 5 years of service time. The conspiracy theorist in me believes the Brewers gain an extra year of team control. (Not verified). And thus.. the lack of many reports on his progress as they rightly manipulate team control as they have enough to get by without him as he has struggled. Perhaps very smart,  shrewd under the radar move. 🤔  

If you agree he's not one of their best 5 starters...and there is a limit on the number of relievers you can have...and he was also struggling to maintain 94 more than 2 innings, then...that's the reason. 

There's a better chance he's non-tendered(or traded) this year than they offer him a raise in arbitration and pay him ~7M+ next year with their bullpen depth. 

 

And I feel like there have been pretty regular reports. FAR more than you get with MiLB players. They've updated his status on broadcasts, they've talked about his outings pretty regularly, what they're hoping for from him. 

Lauer was not good when pitching. And while I don't place a ton of emphasis on MiLB rehab starts...he hasn't been particularly good in the minors until his last two outings. And even his last outing, he walked his final 3 and ended up with a poor line.

 

His last two outings will hopefully earn him a Sept callup.

5 IP, 3H, 0ER 1BB, 6K
4.2IP, 5H, 3ER, 4BB, 9K

That probably earned him a callup. 

The start before that, he had a 7.20 ERA in AAA, he went 3.1 IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB 6K

Not exactly worthy of a callup. 

 

So I think this is pretty exclusively about his performance and he's making a case to earn the 14th spot coming on strong as of late. Not as a starter however, more likely as a long man/2nd lefty.

[LouisEly]

18 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

He's barely holding his velo into the 2nd inning at this point. He's in AAA because he's not one of the 5 best starters on the team.

That's why he's in AAA.  But that's good enough to be the lefty in the bullpen that they need right now given Chafin's performance.

[jay87shot]

We do get extra control but I really doubt we tender him a 5 million dollar contract this offseason. Maybe a smaller incentive deal after we decline.

[Jim French Stepstool]

On 8/27/2023 at 10:25 AM, LouisEly said:

That's why he's in AAA.  But that's good enough to be the lefty in the bullpen that they need right now given Chafin's performance.

I was thinking the same thing. But then they signed Fernando Abad.

He still might make it up here at some point in Sept. but not holding my breath.