Brewers acquire Jake Bauers from NYY

[brewerfan82]

I'd be surprised if acquiring a middling guy entering his 1st year of arbitration on November 17th provides any major indication of how this roster is going to be constructed over the next few months. The other potential stuff going on tonight likely will have a much larger impact. And even then, we are waaaaaaay early in the offseason to make any conclusions.

[Playing Catch]

7 minutes ago, JefferyLeonard said:

You do realize just because they have "team record payrolls", doesn't give them a pass. In other words, a team record payroll still doesn't make it "large". It can be still be bigger. 

It's fun to look through your old posts.

Sometimes I imagine you are Brock in disguise just to drive traffic.

[wiguy94]

11 minutes ago, brewerfan82 said:

I'd be surprised if acquiring a middling guy entering his 1st year of arbitration on November 17th provides any major indication of how this roster is going to be constructed over the next few months. The other potential stuff going on tonight likely will have a much larger impact. And even then, we are waaaaaaay early in the offseason to make any conclusions.

I mean when you trade a top 30 prospect for a guy with 0 options it seems pretty clear that said player will be a part of the 26 man roster to open next season.

[LouisEly]

Jace Avina had a 30% K rate in low A ball and a 34% K rate in rookie ball.

The chances of him becoming a productive major leaguer are about the same as Bauers.  My guess is that the Brewers weren't real high on his K rate.  The fact that he was consistently batting 6th/7th in the lineup somewhat confirms that.

[sveumrules]

24 minutes ago, JefferyLeonard said:

You do realize just because they have "team record payrolls", doesn't give them a pass. In other words, a team record payroll still doesn't make it "large". It can be still be bigger. 

Right, but now you’re just moving the goalposts again.

First it was “real” money. Then you switched to “large”.

Your original complaint was about slashing salary, which is objectively false.

Of course the Brewers could spend more money, so could every team in MLB.

The Brewers capacity to do so is much smaller though as thee literal smallest market in the league.

Barring massive changes to MLB’s revenue structure, the Brewers are incredibly unlikely to ever run a “large” payroll.

[jw5511986]

17 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Jace Avina had a 30% K rate in low A ball and a 34% K rate in rookie ball.

The chances of him becoming a productive major leaguer are about the same as Bauers.  My guess is that the Brewers weren't real high on his K rate.  The fact that he was consistently batting 6th/7th in the lineup somewhat confirms that.

The difference being one of them already made it to the Majors and the other has to continue to progress over 3 more stops just to get there. I'm as prospect focused as the next guy but I've seen a lot of top 10 org prospects flame out before they get to the show let alone top 30 types. I'm going to give Arnold the benefit of the doubt because in the meanwhile. If I'm wrong in the future I'll eat it at that point but I feel comfortable that I probably won't be.

[brewerfan82]

23 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

I mean when you trade a top 30 prospect for a guy with 0 options it seems pretty clear that said player will be a part of the 26 man roster to open next season.

Probably but I still don't think it's an acquisition that prohibits them from getting a better first baseman this offseason, or means they're going to trade an outfielder, or indicates they're going to go cheap the rest of the offseason,

[markedman5]

I understand the frustration as a fan of not having the revenue streams to run large payrolls……but what I’ve never understood is complaining about it year after year in almost every post.

At some point you have to do one of 2 things……

1. accept that you root for the smallest market team in the majors and that it will always negatively impact payroll…….

2. Change your allegiance to one of the multitude of bigger market teams that will spend more on payroll……

Either is reasonable……but continuing to whine about the Brewers not spending some arbitrary number because you think they should is a waste of energy…….and just makes many of us search for the ignore function.

 

 

 

 

[tmwiese55]

2 hours ago, JefferyLeonard said:

Anything they can do to slash salary in some way, they will. Typical Mark A. Make a real trade for once, for a guy(s) making real money. I know, oh the horror! Can't do that, can we? 

Guys like this have NO business being on a major league roster of a real baseball team that actually spends some(any) money. 

Didn't he just spend half of last year rostered on a team with a 300 million payroll?

I mean I have no interest in the guy but we don't have to make every move into some big indictment on them being cheap.  I think its probably a whatever move but this is just taking a flyer and hope to get lucky thing. 

Most concerning to me is this probably means they're not gonna spend money on Santana.   I was kind of hoping he'd be the 7-8 mil type guy in the McCutch/Renfroe/Wong/Winker salary slot.  I know those guys flopped but he's been so consistently OK that its a safe bet he'd at least provide stable adequate starting level play and not require a large multi year commitment like young FAs do.  But maybe he already told them someone else has offered two years. 

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, Rock hard Brouhard said:

Makes me wonder if they have a trade for Tyrone Taylor they are looking at. Not that I care for this move but seems odd that they traded for a backup OF/1B. 

I don't think Bauers is a back-up, I think he is even lower than that.  If we go into the season with this chump starting at DH, 1B or OF, it's a travesty.  If we go into the season with this chump as bench fodder, it is also a travesty.

This guy should be nowhere near our opening day roster, but it sure looks like he will be there or DFA'd.  If he is cut, we just wasted the two young guys for nothing.  If he is on the roster, he is blocking someone else, and that makes no sense either.  Someone said earlier that we should have just kept Hiura, and I agree with that completely.  Pay Hiura 2 milion or Bauers?  We already know what Bauers brings, which ain't much, but since Hiura was in the doghouse last season, we have no idea what he could have brought us.

Meh.

[TURBO]

1 hour ago, Rock hard Brouhard said:

Makes me wonder if they have a trade for Tyrone Taylor they are looking at. Not that I care for this move but seems odd that they traded for a backup OF/1B. 

but Taylor is sooooo much better than Bauers, it just makes no sense.

[beekay414]

[Turnbows Barber]

The most logical reasoning for this trade based on this thread is that Matt Arnold is a Brewer Fanatic regular and missed the non-stop discussion about Keston Hiura.

[jay87shot]

This trade makes no sense to me. I wouldnt pay Bauers 1.7 million if he was a free agent. He has no options was an average at best defense 1st baseman and terrible OF.  He is 5'11" so it's not like he is a great target and from what I can find his splits don't point to a strict platoon boost. Avina isn't a perfect prospect but he seemed to show a lot of improvement at the end of the year and Appleton doesn't seem to be a hitters park. Where as Bauers coming from the Bronx sandbox may actually lose a ballpark boost coming to AFF. At that we also added Brain Sanchez who was pretty decent last year despite being far away.

If our starting 1st baseman is Jake Bauers next year we may as well just throw in the flag. This is an F move in my opinion, no upside and basically giving a roster spot to a proven below average player before any big move are made. I am sure this is a player favorite of Arnold's since he was in the Ray's system when Arnold was there.

[Joseph Zarr]

2 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

It's fun to look through your old posts.

Sometimes I imagine you are Brock in disguise just to drive traffic.

[TURBO]

12 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

 Avina isn't a perfect prospect but he seemed to show a lot of improvement at the end of the year and Appleton doesn't seem to be a hitters park.

Avina didn't play for the Timber Rattlers last year...

[Austin Tatious]

I have defended a lot of the recent moves but this one is a head scratcher.  Bauers has a profile to avoid not acquire.  

[Fear The Chorizo]

1 hour ago, TURBO said:

I don't think Bauers is a back-up, I think he is even lower than that.  If we go into the season with this chump starting at DH, 1B or OF, it's a travesty.  If we go into the season with this chump as bench fodder, it is also a travesty.

This guy should be nowhere near our opening day roster, but it sure looks like he will be there or DFA'd.  If he is cut, we just wasted the two young guys for nothing.  If he is on the roster, he is blocking someone else, and that makes no sense either.  Someone said earlier that we should have just kept Hiura, and I agree with that completely.  Pay Hiura 2 milion or Bauers?  We already know what Bauers brings, which ain't much, but since Hiura was in the doghouse last season, we have no idea what he could have brought us.

Meh.

With regard to Hiura, Keston didn't give the Brewers the option to retain him another year.  He opted to become a free agent and find a fresh start.

[jay87shot]

5 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Avina didn't play for the Timber Rattlers last year...

My bad, thanks. I know better. 

[brewmann04]

Bauers will be this team 1st baseman book it 

[Playing Catch]

I'm on the record as not liking this move, but is he a good defender?

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I think this was an overpay but probably not a big deal. My issue is that Bauer really is not all that different than free agents who could have been signed for a similar salary without giving up prospects (Yepez, Dom Smith, Walsh, Vogelbach). As long as this does not prevent the Brewers from signing a better player to play 1b/DH, I wont complain.

[Oxy]

7 minutes ago, ClosetBrewerFan said:

I think this was an overpay but probably not a big deal. My issue is that Bauer really is not all that different than free agents who could have been signed for a similar salary without giving up prospects (Yepez, Dom Smith, Walsh, Vogelbach). As long as this does not prevent the Brewers from signing a better player to play 1b/DH, I wont complain.

This is where I'm at.  I don't believe his contract is guaranteed, so if he lights it up in ST and impresses the staff/FO maybe he makes the roster.  Now, why we traded anything for him is a little weird...clearly we had targeted him as a wanted commodity, so I dunno. Hope for the best I guess.

[Playing Catch]

45 minutes ago, Oxy said:

This is where I'm at.  I don't believe his contract is guaranteed, so if he lights it up in ST and impresses the staff/FO maybe he makes the roster.  Now, why we traded anything for him is a little weird...clearly we had targeted him as a wanted commodity, so I dunno. Hope for the best I guess.

Yeah, it just feels like a weird move to me. Maybe the team doesn't feel confident in being able to sign the guys who will be available? Maybe this is just a hedge? Or perhaps this gives them some kind of negotiating power?

Like, "Well, we're interested in your services, but we do have Jake Bauers over there, so we aren't DESPERATE for your services."

[TURBO]

What bothers me the most is the fact that since we just got this guy, does that mean we have no shot at resigning Santana for another year?

What sense does it make to pay Bauers almost 2 million on top of what it would cost to resign Santana?

I already knew we wouldn't be making a big splash at 1B, so Santana seemed like what we would end up with, now this?  Santana said all the right things about Milwaukee, and since his price tag would be relatively inexpensive, I was really hoping we'd have him back.

I really hate this trade on so many levels.