Brewers acquiring Taylor Clarke

[Joseph Zarr]

2 minutes ago, damuelle said:

Yonny’s 2-for-49 Venezuelan Winter League disaster has me expecting nothing. 🤦‍♂️

Well, in fairness, he did get two hits. Maybe you can expect a couple? OR, positive regression: a crowd!

[CheeseheadInQC]

17 minutes ago, damuelle said:

Yonny’s 2-for-49 Venezuelan Winter League disaster has me expecting nothing. 🤦‍♂️

Fair, I guess I had forgotten his performance there. Maybe Zamora or Murray will get the nod.

[Jim Goulart]

 

[LouisEly]

2 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I will also say, in regards to this trade:

With the 'loss' of Devanney, this tells me a few things about some other players still in the system:

• The Brewers really like INF Ethan Murray (and so do I - very underrated player in all facets)
• The Brewers likely believe in the bounce back season they saw from INF Freddy Zamora (played his best ball when it mattered most - especially, defensively)
• The Brewers really like what they've seen from a healthy Eric Brown Jr. in the AFL
• The Brewers really believe in their lower levels infield depth (so do I)
• Let's not forget about one of my perennial favorites, INF Patrick Dorrian

They gain an upside reliever to throw in the Lab. They again trade from their depth.

Maybe it also signals an extension for Adames and/or Turang starting the year at AAA to find his hitting stroke, and between Adames, Monasterio, Turang, Brown, Zamora, Tyler Black, and Brock Wilken, there's no room at the inn on the left side of the infield and they want to do him a favor and give him an opportunity elsewhere.

No room at 2B either with Collins and Dunn.

I'm happy for him that it's the Royals and he'll have a better shot to make the majors and hopefully get enough games to get that major league pension...

[nate82]

57 minutes ago, Mass Haas said:

 

Don’t the Brewers have a roster crunch anyways even if MLB doesn’t reduce?  The Brewers only had one rookie team this year and that was extremely crowded.  Not to mention all of the DSL players they maybe bringing over this year and I seem to remember there being some issues with the size of those two teams in the DSL.

[CheeseheadInQC]

1 hour ago, Mass Haas said:

 

I don't know that it is that necessarily. They are still signing minor league free agents as well. It just seems like they decided that the place where it hurt them the least to trade from organizationally was that 25-50 range of hitting prospects. All but Brady kind of fell into that zone. I haven't necessarily agreed with every trade, but I guess I'd rather they deal from the hitters than from the high-variance pitcher types like Low or Rivero. It is definitely more likely that Devanney ends up seeing the big leagues than those two, but I still would rather deal him considering where the organization is right now. That said, I fully expect him to get called up next year and give them at least the passable production that Fry gave the Guardians last season.

[CheezWizHed]

8 hours ago, markedman5 said:

 

Can he hit?  He gives me Brooks Kieschnick vibes.

[HarryDoyle]

World Series, here we come!

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

3 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

World Series, here we come!

I remember similar snarky posts when the Brewers acquired Bryce Wilson last year. He ended up being a stud. That of course doesn't guarantee that Clarke will work out, but this team has put up a pretty solid batting average on pitchers of similar histories. 

[monty57]

21 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I remember similar snarky posts when the Brewers acquired Bryce Wilson last year. He ended up being a stud. That of course doesn't guarantee that Clarke will work out, but this team has put up a pretty solid batting average on pitchers of similar histories. 

Agree. Middle relievers are kind of like kickers in football. You don't want the team to put any resources into acquiring them, but you expect them to do the job every time they go out there, and get mad any time they blow it.

This is a decent pickup. Clarke should be the guy who goes out there in the middle innings in a close game. If he does his job, the team has  a decent chance of winning. If he doesn't, we're going to lose. Through their limited workload, relievers are hard to project, but it's probably safer giving those innings to a guy with a decent track record in the MLB than it is cycling through minor leaguers or journeymen until someone sticks. He costs $1.25M, so he's not much more than the league minimum we'd give a rookie.

Like the poor kicker, Clarke won't get credit if he goes out there and does his job, but having a steady guy to "not blow up" in the 5th or 6th inning could help us win a few extra games, and those games could get us into the playoffs.

Like every trade, time will tell if we gave up too much. Based on WAR, as a non-closing reliever, it will be hard for Clarke to post more than probably 1-2 WAR if he's here two seasons. If either of the guys we gave up spend their pre-arby years in the show, they'll probably beat the WAR we get from Clarke. But, we probably aren't giving up anyone who will have much of a career, so I doubt this is a move we look back on and say "I can't believe we gave up that guy." Devanny's going into his age-27 season, so his upside is probably going to be a utility guy through his prime while he's cheap, getting dumped when he hits arby in his early 30's and starts getting more expensive. 

[HarryDoyle]

1 hour ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I remember similar snarky posts when the Brewers acquired Bryce Wilson last year. He ended up being a stud. That of course doesn't guarantee that Clarke will work out, but this team has put up a pretty solid batting average on pitchers of similar histories. 

And that acquisition plus other ho hummers netted us zero playoff wins.

[folly412]

I remember that it seemed like Arnold was collecting guys with 6 ERAs at this time last year as well.  A couple actually worked out ok.  Enjoy your collection, Matt!

[monty57]

3 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

And that acquisition plus other ho hummers netted us zero playoff wins.

I agree, we should've spent like the Mets and Padres to guarantee ourselves success.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

16 minutes ago, monty57 said:

I agree, we should've spent like the Mets and Padres to guarantee ourselves success.

And only acquire names who would be familiar to even the most novice baseball fan, apparently. 

[monty57]

Acquisitions like this seem "ho hum." However, there are 26 men on the every team's roster. The Angels have shown that even with arguably the two best players in baseball, you can't win if you have big holes elsewhere in the roster.

No one expects Clarke to be a star. However, he should be an above-average "7th or 8th option" in the bullpen. So, if we get to the 6th inning, both starters are out, and our guy is better than their guy, we have a good shot at winning. 

The mega-contracts get all the press, but filling holes in the roster with MLB-caliber guys instead of AAAA fodder is a big part of what gets you to the playoffs. 

[Matt Breen]

The front office has done a great job identifying relief arms that last few years. Wilson, Payamps, Milner, Peguero, Megill - those guys were huge for the club last year.

It doesn't mean anyone they pick up will be great. Not every acquisition pans out. But they must have seen something interesting in Clarke to get him. Let's hope the staff can help him up his game.

[CheezWizHed]

I only need someone to mention "dumpster" diving and I'll already have my Brewer offseason Bingo!

Wouldn't be the offseasons without people questioning the minor moves.

[brewcrewdue80]

It's the addition to the middle relief shuttle crew while getting a chance in the lab to see if Clark will work in the bullpen without an option next year.  See he has had a good season. Gave up HRs last year that will make any RPs season look worse. So the upside must be there for either of the two season types. I see that note above about a pitch that was effective but not used often. It can be amazing the results turning a 5-7pct pitch thrown to 20+ while reducing the ineffective pitch from the arsenal.  I'm not torn on who we gave up. We now have a player that has MLB experience with upside for RP.9

[Lathund]

12 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

I only need someone to mention "dumpster" diving and I'll already have my Brewer offseason Bingo!

Wouldn't be the offseasons without people questioning the minor moves.

Need some "needle mover" talk too. 

[Outlander]

On 12/16/2023 at 4:16 AM, Lathund said:

Need some "needle mover" talk too. 

Another thread reminded me that "man up" can also be added to the Bingo card.

[monty57]

2 hours ago, Outlander said:

Another thread reminded me that "man up" can also be added to the Bingo card.

Don’t forget “if they really wanted to win.”