Brewers sign Eric Haase

[markedman5]

 

[markedman5]

 

[Frisbee Slider]

Nearly a full win below replacement level last year.

🤷‍♂️

[DR28]

I believe he hits lefties well and can play LF? Maybe Im thinking of someone else.

[Brewcrew82]

Great 2021 and 2022. Awful last year. Over 30, so it's no guarantee the 2021/2022 version comes back. 

Have to assume at this point the Brewers will fix his framing issues.

With Quero likely starting in AAA, not worth getting too up in arms over. 

[Outlander]

15 minutes ago, DR28 said:

I believe he hits lefties well and can play LF? Maybe Im thinking of someone else.

That was true until 2023, brutal against lefties last year.

[wibadgers23]

Yeah with Quero coming very soon, I was never overly concerned with who they’d sign as backup catcher.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Seems like the biggest change was the power pretty much disappearing.

[wallus]

Fine for a backup catcher. I didn't want the team to invest much $ in the position. 

[umphrey]

Well he was pretty awful last year and I have no faith in our ability to rehabilitate struggling hitters 🤷‍♀️ I can’t tell if we’re trying to win next year though

[Matt Breen]

Pretty much what I expected. Fringe veteran who can keep the seat warm for Quero. If he sucks in the first half - and Quero does well at AAA - then we can make a move. Or if there is an injury. 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Cueing up the snarky, sarcastic and ill-thought-out "World Series here we come" hot takes in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ...

[jay87shot]

Good backup option, doesn't have to catch much with Contreras but if the bat gets hot he can sneak in some OF work (if we trade a couple options) or is probably athletic enough to pick up 1st. I would still find a vet minor league depth catcher in case he starts off like he played last year but if we can improve his defense the once a week starts won't hurt much if the bat isn't there. I don't know if I would trust him much as a pinch hitter like we did Caratini last year but maybe if he hits well like 21/22 my mind would change quickly. I was thinking we were going to end up with Tucker Barnhart, Haase is a much better option in my opinion.

[wiguy94]

Pretty darn underwhelming. This guy peaked in 2021 and totally fell off a cliff after that when it comes to peripheral numbers.

Percentiles by year (21 -> 22 -> 23)

xwOBA - 41st -> 34th -> 1st
xSLG - 72nd -> 50th -> 2nd
Avg EV - 79th -> 25th -> 14th
Barrel % - 86th -> 59th -> 13th
Hard-Hit % - 84th -> 63rd -> 20th
Sweet-Spot % - 69th -> 34th -> 7th

[Brewcrew82]

5 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Pretty darn underwhelming. This guy peaked in 2021 and totally fell off a cliff after that when it comes to peripheral numbers.

Percentiles by year (21 -> 22 -> 23)

xwOBA - 41st -> 34th -> 1st
xSLG - 72nd -> 50th -> 2nd
Avg EV - 79th -> 25th -> 14th
Barrel % - 86th -> 59th -> 13th
Hard-Hit % - 84th -> 63rd -> 20th
Sweet-Spot % - 69th -> 34th -> 7th

Looks like they're just biding their time until May/June when they can bring Quero up.

By the end of the season, Contreras was playing pretty much every day anyways. 

[wiguy94]

7 minutes ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Looks like they're just biding their time until May/June when they can bring Quero up.

By the end of the season, Contreras was playing pretty much every day anyways. 

I'm fine with this signing in the end. Quero like you said probably comes up at some point. Where this signing becomes an issue for me is if we run it back with Burnes and Adames and don't make a notable move to improve the offense. I'm just worried we run it back without actually upgrading the offense just to miss the playoffs and get less value for Burnes and Adames at the deadline.

[Thurston Fluff]

This is the best Christmas surprise I've had since I had to put my dog down a week before Christmas.

Seriously though, when you have one of the best catchers in the game how much time is the backup going to get? It would take a couple months to find out if he's a total waste which would give Quero some time in AAA and save some service time. Even if Quero isn't ready on offense he's one of the best defensive catchers in the minors. That should be enough to help the team in a backup role in the second half. If Quero can hit then Contreras can DH more.

[Brewcrew82]

9 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

I'm fine with this signing in the end. Quero like you said probably comes up at some point. Where this signing becomes an issue for me is if we run it back with Burnes and Adames and don't make a notable move to improve the offense. I'm just worried we run it back without actually upgrading the offense just to miss the playoffs and get less value for Burnes and Adames at the deadline.

Legitimate concern.

We'll see what happens. FA and trade market in hold until Yamamoto signs. I'd imagine some competitive offers for Burnes will come in after that. They'll need to make a decision. Hopefully they can play the Yamamoto losers against each other. 

[brewcrewdue80]

So he has 3 years team control, I think pre-Atb yet so a move to be Burnes personal catcher should be needed. Haase may not make on the team through February once Burnes and Arb figures are exposed.  Get Haase some catching defense drills to work on and have him more prepared to catch Burnes.  Maybe another Brewers SP.  1-2 starts a week max is all he's about to see.

If Burnes tosses gems with Haase catching him, mvp level signing.

[torts]

World series here we come!!!!!

[SRB]

I'm assuming it's a cheap deal, so some interesting upside. Catchers are flukey so I'm not that worried about his terrible 2023. If he's really bad again he can be replaced early on.

Not thrilling to be sure, but as it stands right now you could try to play Contreras as much as he can handle and do a cross-positional platoon with Bauers vs. RHP and Haase vs. LHP

[SRB]

2 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

Nearly a full win below replacement level last year.

🤷‍♂️

He was bad by any metric, but part of that is because Detroit used him about a third of the time at OF/DH (!!!)

[TURBO]

Sure hope William doesn't go through any injury issues this year...

[Fear The Chorizo]

5 hours ago, TURBO said:

Sure hope William doesn't go through any injury issues this year...

Well, Quero is on the 40 man roster...longterm I can see Contreras as a pretty darn good DH assuming Quero is in their longterm plans at catcher.

Contreras is a decent defensive catcher, don't get me wrong - but by all accounts Quero is a stud defensively.

[duewizard]

 

1 million for a backup catcher is fine by me. Unless Quero completely sucks in AAA this year, Haase will only be here until June-July.