Brewers Interested in Isiah Kiner-Falefa

[Jastro]

Per Ken Rosenthal's "What I'm Hearing" article this morning 12/6. The Brewers and Marlins are among teams showing interest in the SS/UTL. Kiner-Falefa has the defensive flexibility the Brewers often pursue but unfortunately, he also comes with significant offensive downside. The 28 year old has a career 81 OPS+ and posted a rather dreadful .646 OPS in 2023.

Rosenthal also stoked the flames of a Dodgers-Brewers trade involving Corbin Burnes and/or Willy Adames. Both would be an excellent fit for Chavez Ravine but as of this writing, it appears Rosenthal may have been wish-casting that deal.

 

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[Brock Beauchamp]

Thanks for posting this, @Jastro!

[Fear The Chorizo]

Good God, no...no thank you.  

Anytime I read "defensive versatility" as the primary value for a veteran position player, I want the Brewers to run as far away from that player as possible until their current 40 man roster actually lacks those qualities instead of having an overabundance of them at the expense of better hitters.  Monasterio is still in the organization, right?  Seems like Kiner-Falefa is an older, more expensive, and worse version of Monasterio, so I hope this is just Rosenthal looking to throw a few sentences together for each team during a Winter Meetings period that hasn't really seen the huge FA or trades happen that everyone is waiting on.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

3 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Good God, no...no thank you.  

Anytime I read "defensive versatility" as the primary value for a veteran position player, I want the Brewers to run as far away from that player as possible until their current 40 man roster actually lacks those qualities instead of having an overabundance of them at the expense of better hitters.  Monasterio is still in the organization, right?  Seems like Kiner-Falefa is an older, more expensive, and worse version of Monasterio, so I hope this is just Rosenthal looking to throw a few sentences together for each team during a Winter Meetings period that hasn't really seen the huge FA or trades happen that everyone is waiting on.

While I do agree that IK-F is not exactly an exciting addition, this is the Brewers we're talking about. He's the type of player they love going back to Stearns' first days as GM (a philosophy Arnold has maintained). It doesn't surprise me in the least that they are being connected to him as a potential free agent signing, and I have little doubt that there's some fire to the smoke.

[TURBO]

Gross with a capital G.

Just yuk.

[Fear The Chorizo]

43 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

While I do agree that IK-F is not exactly an exciting addition, this is the Brewers we're talking about. He's the type of player they love going back to Stearns' first days as GM (a philosophy Arnold has maintained). It doesn't surprise me in the least that they are being connected to him as a potential free agent signing, and I have little doubt that there's some fire to the smoke.

Sure - but how has that worked out for their offensive production in the postseason the past 5 years?  At some point you need to balance the roster out and remove the top priority of a player having a bunch of different gloves in his duffel bag so you can have better hitters across your lineup at the start of a season.

The Brewers currently have about 15 OFs on their roster, Monasterio can play 2B/SS/3B, Owen Miller can play everywhere, Vinny Capra can play 3B/2B/SS, and you've also got Oliver Dunn, Turang, and Adames as middle IF options.  What's the point?  

[TURBO]

16 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Sure - but how has that worked out for their offensive production in the postseason the past 5 years?  At some point you need to balance the roster out and remove the top priority of a player having a bunch of different gloves in his duffel bag so you can have better hitters across your lineup at the start of a season.

The Brewers currently have about 15 OFs on their roster, Monasterio can play 2B/SS/3B, Owen Miller can play everywhere, Vinny Capra can play 3B/2B/SS, and you've also got Oliver Dunn, Turang, and Adames as middle IF options.  What's the point?  

Sopot on, all of this!

[Michael Trzinski]

Jastro said: "Both would be an excellent fit for Chavez Ravine but as of this writing, it appears Rosenthal may have been wish-casting that deal."

An old guy like me doesn't know what 'wish-casting' is.

Help??

[nate82]

15 minutes ago, Michael Trzinski said:

Jastro said: "Both would be an excellent fit for Chavez Ravine but as of this writing, it appears Rosenthal may have been wish-casting that deal."

An old guy like me doesn't know what 'wish-casting' is.

Help??

Google says: The act of interpreting information or a situation in a way that casts it as favorable or desired, despite the fact that there is no evidence for such a conclusion; a wishful forecast.

[Michael Trzinski]

Damn Google

 

[CheeseheadInQC]

10 hours ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Sure - but how has that worked out for their offensive production in the postseason the past 5 years?  At some point you need to balance the roster out and remove the top priority of a player having a bunch of different gloves in his duffel bag so you can have better hitters across your lineup at the start of a season.

The Brewers currently have about 15 OFs on their roster, Monasterio can play 2B/SS/3B, Owen Miller can play everywhere, Vinny Capra can play 3B/2B/SS, and you've also got Oliver Dunn, Turang, and Adames as middle IF options.  What's the point?  

I would imagine signing him would follow an Adames trade. At that point, who would be the backup shortstop? I don’t know that they trust Monasterio there. Miller’s not really a shortstop. Capra is listed by Fangraphs as a DH to tell you what they think of his defense.

If you don’t get a big league ready shortstop prospect back in a trade, I think they probably sign someone as a backup/insurance for Turang.  IKF is probably about as good as it gets based on who is out there unless you think Yonny Hernandez is breaking out.

[Fear The Chorizo]

2 hours ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

I would imagine signing him would follow an Adames trade. At that point, who would be the backup shortstop? I don’t know that they trust Monasterio there. Miller’s not really a shortstop. Capra is listed by Fangraphs as a DH to tell you what they think of his defense.

If you don’t get a big league ready shortstop prospect back in a trade, I think they probably sign someone as a backup/insurance for Turang.  IKF is probably about as good as it gets based on who is out there unless you think Yonny Hernandez is breaking out.

If Adames is traded, maybe Gavin Lux is the team's backup SS.  I don't want to prioritize signing a guy like IKF at this point in the offseason before other more important dominoes with the roster fall into place than bringing in the backup to the prearvitration SS heir apparent if the current starting SS gets traded.

[CheeseheadInQC]

9 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

If Adames is traded, maybe Gavin Lux is the team's backup SS.  I don't want to prioritize signing a guy like IKF at this point in the offseason before other more important dominoes with the roster fall into place than bringing in the backup to the prearvitration SS heir apparent if the current starting SS gets traded.

You are right about the timing, but if those dominoes fall, whatever big trades they are going to make get made and the Brewers don't have any shortstop other than Turang, IKF could be a useful addition if he is still available.

[Harold Hutchison]

I look at IKF, and ask... why? Monasterio and Turang are two decent SS options, there's Devanney and Capra at AAA, Zamora and even Dunn in AA.

I'd rather offer Adames three years at $20 million per year, and see if Baez's bat holds up. If Baez pulls a Chourio (and based on a VERY low K rate and the increase in power from 2022-2023, he could), the Crew could have a nice orderly transition from A to B in 2026-2027.

[TURBO]

Signing this guy worries me.  Pretty much means we are going to punt an infield position if Adames is traded.  The only silver lining is now that CC is gone, there would be no chance of CC falling in love with him and playing him every single day.

I REALLY hope this doesn't happen, truly really hope...

[Rock hard Brouhard]

Can he still catch ? I like the idea of having a utility guy who can play 6 different positions plus be a third catcher , plus pitch in blow outs. And he has some speed to pinch run. I am in the minority but I like the idea of picking him up 

[Rick Daltons Flamethrower]

Not feeling this at all. Aquiring another low OPS player with good defense confuses me. Hoping we don't go in this direction. 

[Devinep]

22 hours ago, TURBO said:

Signing this guy worries me.  Pretty much means we are going to punt an infield position if Adames is traded.  The only silver lining is now that CC is gone, there would be no chance of CC falling in love with him and playing him every single day.

I REALLY hope this doesn't happen, truly really hope...

At first I thought the same, but playing Turang is already pointing offense at an infield position.  IKF makes little sense in a vacuum, but if they trade Adames for a good package and separately get Brandon Lowe or Jorge Polanco to play 2B, maybe a Turang/IKF SS would be ok. 

[TURBO]

44 minutes ago, Devinep said:

At first I thought the same, but playing Turang is already pointing offense at an infield position.  IKF makes little sense in a vacuum, but if they trade Adames for a good package and separately get Brandon Lowe or Jorge Polanco to play 2B, maybe a Turang/IKF SS would be ok. 

But imagine a Turang at SS and IKF at 2B infield on a daily basis...

Kind of makes me sick to my stomach to think about.

[Devinep]

20 hours ago, TURBO said:

But imagine a Turang at SS and IKF at 2B infield on a daily basis...

Kind of makes me sick to my stomach to think about.

Yes. If that happened it would be disguisting