2024-25 Misc Offseason News

[brewers888]

15 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

Ah yes, we've reached the "pissed because my team didn't sign a guy who has been bad since 2019" part of the offseason. That's like #5 on the 7 stages of grief.

That or we've done nothing to replace Adames and no Durbin is not the answer to anything with his pitiful exit velocity numbers. You can just trust any and all moves that this team makes but some of us aren't thrilled at the likelihood of an infield with three everyday players with extremely limited power.

[sveumrules]

24 minutes ago, brewers888 said:

That or we've done nothing to replace Adames and no Durbin is not the answer to anything with his pitiful exit velocity numbers. You can just trust any and all moves that this team makes but some of us aren't thrilled at the likelihood of an infield with three everyday players with extremely limited power.

Ortiz had a 101 ISO+ last year, so its more like two infielders with extremely limited power and one who is around average.

Moncada has a 93 ISO+ in the 2020’s so he likely wouldn’t have moved the needle much on the power production front.

[Thurston Fluff]

30 minutes ago, brewers888 said:

That or we've done nothing to replace Adames and no Durbin is not the answer to anything with his pitiful exit velocity numbers. You can just trust any and all moves that this team makes but some of us aren't thrilled at the likelihood of an infield with three everyday players with extremely limited power.

A- Just because you don't think Durbin is the answer doesn't mean they did nothing. It just means you didn't like what they did. Which leads me to...

B- While others just trust all the moves the team makes you don't seem to trust any moves the team makes.

[Matt Breen]

With Moncada off the market, I'm betting the Brewers sign one of Paul DeJong, Brandon Drury or Brendan Rodgers.

 

[bensheeps]

6 minutes ago, Matt Breen said:

With Moncada off the market, I'm betting the Brewers sign one of Paul DeJong, Brandon Drury or Brendan Rodgers.

 

To those of you with a better handle on scanning predictive stats, how would you rank these three choices?  Is it correct to assume DeJong would be the best fit?

[sveumrules]

5 minutes ago, bensheeps said:

To those of you with a better handle on scanning predictive stats, how would you rank these three choices?  Is it correct to assume DeJong would be the best fit?

Drury (-2.1 WAR in 2024) is coming off the second worst season of the last ten years.

DeJong’s .268 OBP is worst in MLB since 2021, he can’t hit LHP (68 wRC+ since 2021), and his SS defense nosedived last year.

Rodgers at least hits lefties alright (106 wRC+ last two years), but he is pretty much 2B only with zero career innings at 3B and 16th percentile arm strength last year.

[jay87shot]

I am thinking a trade is all that makes sense at 3rd, I don't really want any of the free agents at this point. I would rather go with Dunn, Durbin, Sal, Collins, Mone and eventually Boeve than DeJong, Drury, or Rodgers. I think Zach Denzenzo or Shay Whitcomb (maybe a small 2nd piece) would make a good trade for Blake Perkins or a reliever (Payamps/Peguero) especially if Black platoons 1st and can be the 5th OF. Defensively neither are great but they do have big upside and could move to 1st in 2026 if the bat is good. Brett Baty makes a ton of sense now that Alonso is back as well.

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, sveumrules said:

Drury (-2.1 WAR in 2024) is coming off the second worst season of the last ten years.

DeJong’s .268 OBP is worst in MLB since 2021, he can’t hit LHP (68 wRC+ since 2021), and his SS defense nosedived last year.

Rodgers at least hits lefties alright (106 wRC+ last two years), but he is pretty much 2B only with zero career innings at 3B and 16th percentile arm strength last year.

Maybe Rodgers on an NRI type of deal because he was the 3rd overall pick plus a big prospect not too long ago and is still just 27.

As for the others, the Brewers may as well take their chances on internal improvement from their youngsters getting better (Turang, Ortiz, Frelick, Mitchell, Chourio) and Yelich staying healthy. 

[Matt Breen]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Drury (-2.1 WAR in 2024) is coming off the second worst season of the last ten years.

The allure of Drury is 2022-23. He hit .263 and .262, respectively, with 26 and 28 HRs. He had an OPS north of .800 both years. He was horrible in 2024. A minor league deal to see how he looks - and hope for some sort of rebound - is totally in line with how the Brewers operate. 

[Matt Breen]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

DeJong’s .268 OBP is worst in MLB since 2021, he can’t hit LHP (68 wRC+ since 2021), and his SS defense nosedived last year.

I really dislike DeJong. Other than some power, he's just a black hole with the bat. But I could see the Brewers signing him on the cheap.

[Matt Breen]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Rodgers at least hits lefties alright (106 wRC+ last two years), but he is pretty much 2B only with zero career innings at 3B and 16th percentile arm strength last year.

Rodgers is a big bag of 'meh'. As noted elsewhere, he hits lefties well, but he's been bad against right handers and bad away from Coors field (.826 OPS at Coors vs .626 OPS on the road). 

But he's young enough that the club might think they can 'fix' him or something like that. He probably would get plugged in at 2B - with Turang going to SS. 

Not a fan of it all. 

[wallus]

3 hours ago, Matt Breen said:

With Moncada off the market, I'm betting the Brewers sign one of Paul DeJong, Brandon Drury or Brendan Rodgers.

 

I'd take Iglesias over those three and then DeJong. The other two are minor league signings if at all.

[Jopal78]

6 minutes ago, wallus said:

I'd take Iglesias over those three and then DeJong. The other two are minor league signings if at all.

Iglesias essentially had an extended hot streak in 2024. That’s why he’s unsigned, he probably thinks 291 very good PAs earned him a guarantee at 35 years old and the rest of the league doesn’t think so. I’d throw any of those guys an NRI though. 

[sveumrules]

Cross Drury off the list, minor league deal with the White Sox.

[wallus]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

Iglesias essentially had an extended hot streak in 2024. That’s why he’s unsigned, he probably thinks 291 very good PAs earned him a guarantee at 35 years old and the rest of the league doesn’t think so. I’d throw any of those guys an NRI though. 

I don't think anyone is believing that Iglesias is an .830 OPS guy. But he is projected for a .730 OPS and can play SS which fits our roster. I don't think a few million guaranteed would be a bad investment. Worst case, he is a versatile vet and a good teammate.

I do not want to move Turang to SS. Honestly, I think people are assuming his bat will be good enough this next season.

[markedman5]

Not worth a new thread but I thought some would be interested 

 

[Austin Tatious]

If not a trade then maybe Kiki Hernandez?

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, wallus said:

I don't think anyone is believing that Iglesias is an .830 OPS guy. But he is projected for a .730 OPS and can play SS which fits our roster. I don't think a few million guaranteed would be a bad investment. Worst case, he is a versatile vet and a good teammate.

I do not want to move Turang to SS. Honestly, I think people are assuming his bat will be good enough this next season.

I’m sure if the Brewers offered Iglesias a guarantee he would sign tomorrow. There’s really no reason too though, at 35 he could show up to camp and be finished  just as likely as putting up a .730 OPS

[Brewcrew82]

7 hours ago, brewers888 said:

That or we've done nothing to replace Adames and no Durbin is not the answer to anything with his pitiful exit velocity numbers. You can just trust any and all moves that this team makes but some of us aren't thrilled at the likelihood of an infield with three everyday players with extremely limited power.

Am I correct or did you not feel this exact same way about our off-season last year? 
 

If we can’t trust the team, then why should we entertain your position?

[wntrtxn21]

I too think the Brewers have done almost nothing to improve the team. They are definitely a worse offensive team going into this season. However I don't believe Iglesias is worth the investment. Milwaukee might as well go with Dunn/Durbin and use this year as a "prove it" year for some of their minor leaguers. 

[wallus]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

I’m sure if the Brewers offered Iglesias a guarantee he would sign tomorrow. There’s really no reason too though, at 35 he could show up to camp and be finished  just as likely as putting up a .730 OPS

His defense is still good so I will agree to disagree on getting a guarantee. I'm sure we will know shortly though 

[Matt Breen]

3 hours ago, Austin Tatious said:

If not a trade then maybe Kiki Hernandez?

It's possible - but Hernandez has had an OPS of .654, .646 and .629 that last three years. Good defense. Little upside. So probably more utility infielder type guy. 

[Matt Breen]

5 hours ago, wallus said:

I don't think anyone is believing that Iglesias is an .830 OPS guy. But he is projected for a .730 OPS and can play SS which fits our roster. I don't think a few million guaranteed would be a bad investment. Worst case, he is a versatile vet and a good teammate.

Nothing wrong with Inglesias. He'll hit for a decent average, but that is it. He has no power. Never has. Defense isn't what it used to be either. And every single projection (ZIPS, Steamer, a few others) I have seen has him as a sub.-.700 OPS player. The upside is negligible - unless he suddenly is a .300 hitter like he did last season (when he was great). I just don't trust the guy at 35. And I'd rather have someone with more upside than Jose. 

All that aside, the guy is really weird. Every now and then he'll just get into a groove and just hit and hit and hit. Odd career. 

[sveumrules]

2 hours ago, Matt Breen said:

All that aside, the guy is really weird. Every now and then he'll just get into a groove and just hit and hit and hit. Odd career. 

Jose has two seasons over two WAR on FanGraphs - 2013 (2.3) and 2024 (2.5). He didn't play in MLB in 2014 or 2023 on account of injury, but every year from 2015 through 2022 he put up between 1.0 and 1.8 WAR. 

Has definitely been consistent in that high floor, low ceiling kind of way. Maybe the perfect example of the luxury backup, low end starter kind of archetype. Always thought Tyrone Taylor was another good example and he's got a four year run going now with 1.3 / 2.0 / 1.0 / 1.2 WAR since 2021. 

Back to Iglesias, since he doesn't hit for power or walk (4.3 career BB%) at all, his whole line is pretty much entirely BABIP dependent...

2013-19 (2832 PAs)
.306 BABIP | 85 wRC+

2020 (150 PAs)
.407 BABIP | 160 wRC+

2021-22 (978 PAs)
.315 BABIP | 88 wRC+

2024 (291 PAs)
.382 BABIP | 137 wRC+

Has also hit lefties pretty consistently with a 124 wRC+ vs southpaws over 416 PAs since 2021, and a 110 wRC+ vs LHP for his career. Talking a tiny sample spread out over a really long time so it's probably meaningless, but Iglesias also has a 210 wRC+ (and a literal .500 BABIP lol) in 23 career PAs as a pinch hitter.

Odd for sure. Out of 803 players with at least 4,000 PAs in the expansion era, the most similar player(s) I could come up with were...

Jose Iglesias
52 BB+ | 58 K+ | 112 AVG+ | 62 ISO+ | 90 wRC+

GRUDZIELANEK
53 BB+ | 77 K+ | 107 AVG+ | 65 ISO+ | 91 wRC+

Dee Gordon
49 BB+ | 72 K+ | 111 AVG+ | 47 ISO+ | 88 wRC+

Tito Fuentes
56 BB+ | 65 K+ | 104 AVG+ | 62 ISO+ | 85 wRC+

[umphrey]

They didn’t do nothing, they clearly just maxed their payroll with Hoskins and Woodruff and decided against another major trade besides Devin. I’m sure they would have loved to pay up for another infielder.