Brewers sign Eric Haase

[Playing Catch]

I'm of the belief that catchers need as much seasoning as possible before promotion. I'm in no hurry to get Quero up to the big squad. Even if he's raking in AAA, I would prefer the Brewers wait until '25 to debut him. There are just so many quality catching prospects that fizzle when they hit MLB.

[Lucas]

16 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I'm of the belief that catchers need as much seasoning as possible before promotion. I'm in no hurry to get Quero up to the big squad. Even if he's raking in AAA, I would prefer the Brewers wait until '25 to debut him. There are just so many quality catching prospects that fizzle when they hit MLB.

I agree which is why I was hoping for a more sure thing at backup catcher. Gary Sanchez was probably my most realistic hope. He has a cannon arm behind home plate and with Brewers coaching I would assume they could improve his framing/blocking a bit. His bat is also way more of a sure thing than Haase as well. Hard to get excited about signing the catcher who had the worst fWAR in the MLB last year. 

Also regarding Quero if he wasn't Rule 5 eligible forcing him be put on the 40-man, would anyone really feel the need for him to be added in 2024 barring a longer term injury to an MLB catcher? He had to be protected but that doesn't mean they should change his developmental plan.

[TURBO]

I can't imagine signing a guy that could be more blah than this.  lol

Hopefully, we don't have to rely on him for more than 3 or 4 at bats per week.  

[monty57]

If you were a good free agent veteran catcher right now, would you sign with the Brewers, knowing that the only way you're going to play more than once every week or so is for Contreras to get injured? 

Caratini was pretty good last year, and he only got 226 PAs. Any decent catcher is going to hold out for a shot at either a starting job, or at least a job where the starter isn't an All-Star who will be in the lineup every day.

I'm glad they filled this hole, as it needed to be done. I'm not surprised that we didn't get the cream of the FA crop. I do hope that Haase is able to regain his '21 and '22 form. He was bad last year, but he's not that far away from being a decent player.

I'm also hopeful that Contreras stays healthy and productive, making this signing pretty insignificant.

[markedman5]

 

[brewcrewdue80]

Lol. Checked out Savant on Haase.  Similiar batter none other than 2022 Tyrone Taylor.  Now we know why trigger for both moves were made in 24hrs.  They found a better defensive-PAs position for Taylor.

Haase suffered a poor batting year last season. But savant has the 2 previous having much better stat outcomes. That launch angle and EV with contact/barrel were all a tick above ML avgs.  You could take the optimistic view and think that kind of player is due to return.  Maybe there was a slight/mild injury that they just played through? 

The career splits aren't good for him as a Sub-PH. Oh some comment on MLBTR mentioned he has caught 2 no hitters.  So you've got your guy to finally see the 9IP no hitter this season!

[tmwiese55]

23 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

I'm of the belief that catchers need as much seasoning as possible before promotion. I'm in no hurry to get Quero up to the big squad. Even if he's raking in AAA, I would prefer the Brewers wait until '25 to debut him. There are just so many quality catching prospects that fizzle when they hit MLB.

Also if they're this high on Quero wouldn't it be beneficial to wait until next year to start his clock?  Essentially getting another year later on in his prime and presumably starter level usage rather than a half season of playing once a week.      I think Contreras still has 4 years left so kicking the can another year seems to make sense 

[MadThinker88]

I'm wishing Haase well & good fortune.

He came up in the CLE and barely got a cup of coffee before being sent over to Detroit where he got some opportunities and even caught a combine no-no for the Tigers.  He ended up back in CLE last season and struggled big time in limited chances as Bo Naylor eventually got called up and seized the C position.  I thought Haase & Fry would be capable backups to Bo this year but Eric elected free agency & eventually signed with MKE.

While Eric might be willing to spend time in the minors during 2024 it is important to remember that Haase is out of options (as noted earlier by markedman5). Another team with a catching need could place a waiver claim on Eric if/when MKE tries to move him to AAA as Quero gets called up.

[monty57]

Regarding Quero, if the team thinks that he'll be the starter for the Brewers down the road, I don't want to see them wasting his service time as a backup this year. 

It may not be fair to the young player, but he should spend all year in the minors this year. Assuming Contreras doesn't sign an extension, you bring up Quero midway through '25, which would be Contreras' first arby year. You can then see how he looks "getting his feet wet" as a backup for a few months, and you can decide if you trade Contreras after the '25 season (with two years' service time remaining) or hold him one more year with Quero as a backup.

You'd then get Contreras for '23, '24, '25 and maybe '26 before trading him, and you have Quero for a partial season in '25, with control for '26-'31. That's a long time to have catcher shored up. A lot can happen over the next few seasons, but that's the plan I'd shoot for, and hope Quero develops as projected so he'll allow for us to trade Contreras away for a big haul in a couple years.

But barring injury, I would not bring him up in '24, wasting service time for 150 or so PAs.

[Jim Goulart]

Brewers to Eric Haase: "Watch this on a loop"