TRADE: Brewers Acquire Catcher Danny Jansen from Tampa Bay Rays

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

There were reports over the weekend that the Brewers wanted to upgrade the backup catcher spot on their roster. Now, we know that there was smoke to go with that fire. Milwaukee has acquired catcher Danny Jansen, an Appleton West alumnus, in a trade with the Rays.

Jansen, 30, signed a one-year deal worth $8.5 million with the Rays this winter. There's a mutual option included in the contract. He's batting .204/.314/.389 in 259 plate appearances this season, showing his usual above-average pop for a catcher and delivering roughly average defense behind the plate. The move figures to displace Eric Haase from the backup catcher role, though it could also facilitate at least a short-term stint on the injured list for William Contreras, who has played all season with a fractured finger on his catching hand.

Born in Elmhurst, Ill., Jansen largely grew up in Appleton, Wis. He's been a target for the team in the past, but the price was right now, at the deadline. He's owed just under $3 million for the balance of this season.

Milwaukee's top need at this deadline, arguably, is a bit more in the way of right-handed power. Jansen offers it. Of all batters with 150 or more plate appearances this year, Jansen ranks fifth in the percentage of his batted balls that are in pulled fly balls, trailing only Cal Raleigh, Isaac Paredes, Cedric Mullins and new teammate Rhys Hoskins. With Hoskins down with a thumb injury (which might linger upon his return, too), Jansen's infusion of pop from the right side is crucial. It also stands in contrast to the very low pulled fly ball rates of both Haase and Contreras.

To land that upgrade, the Crew surrendered infield prospect Jadher Areinamo.

 

That's no insignificant price. Baseball America ranked Areinamo 10th on their recent midseason update of the Brewers' top 30 prospects list, and he's been a favorite of many a member of our own Brewer Fanatic community. His glove is an asset at either second or third base, though he's smaller than the prototypical player at the latter spot. He's also batted .300/.359/.468 for the High-A affiliate in Appleton this year. His future might be as a utility infielder, but he's only 21 and looks ready for the test of Double-A pitching.

Tampa Bay sending money to help cover Jansen's salary does help, in two small ways. Firstly, it leaves Matt Arnold more in whatever budget Mark Attanasio has allotted for other acquisitions at this deadline. Second, it might have been necessary to get the deal done. The Rays, like some other clubs, often insist upon paying down salaries on players like Jansen in order to ensure they get the best possible return for them. Still, being on this side of such a transaction is tough, as it reinforces how highly everyone involved esteemed Areinamo. Milwaukee will hope that Jansen's jolt behind the plate can make that price easier to stomach.

View full article

[biedergb]

Jadher? No....

This trade makes me so sad. I hope Jansen helps out in a big way. Losing Jadher is no small price indeed. He may not be a star, but has the likelihood of being a very good MLBer who can play an IF position, and is a leader on the field.

Jahder will finally get his promotion to AA with the Rays. Much deserved and I wish you well young Mr. Areinamo.

[gregmag]

This is mystifying. Our best A+ bat for a rental backup catcher?  Who’s going to like this?  The “prospects are worthless” crowd only want to acquire guys they know from ESPN; the “prospects matter” crowd only want to trade good prospects for substantial upgrades. How does this even wiggle ythe needle? 

[Sugarrayray]

Hopefully they can put William on the injured list for almost a month. Finally get him to heal.

His most recent at-bats have been pathetic. His swing decisions have been worse than Joey’s.

[Joseph Zarr]

11 minutes ago, biedergb said:

Jadher? No....

This trade makes me so sad. I hope Jansen helps out in a big way. Losing Jadher is no small price indeed. He may not be a star, but has the likelihood of being a very good MLBer who can play an IF position, and is a leader on the field.

Jahder will finally get his promotion to AA with the Rays. Much deserved and I wish you well young Mr. Areinamo.

We loved (and still love) Jadher. He's a fantastic baseball player. But, keep in mind this  is the running average expense the Brewers have for players they don't covet as highly within their own organizational metrics. Jadher is a smaller guy with some reasonable concerns when it comes to his swing decisions and mechanics. Jadher's defense will likely always be elite. Even I have major questions about how his swing will translate as the pitching challenges intensify. This trade very much reminds me of the Tristan Peters trade to SF tho we get a better caliber of player back given the better prospect being sent out.

[biedergb]

2 minutes ago, Sugarrayray said:

Hopefully they can put William on the injured list for almost a month. Finally get him to heal.

His most recent at-bats have been pathetic. His swing decisions have been worse than Joey’s.

Well sounds like he won't go on the IL, but maybe he can sit more than one day, get Jansen to catch the Nats  series and see if Contreras will at least sit 2-3 days a week. But that may require Haase and Jansen on the roster and can't imagine they keep 3 C for August??

[Michael Trzinski]

IF Contreras is going on the IL, this was probably a must-do deal. Yeah, the price is a bit high, but otherwise I'm sure David Fry was available 😁

[biedergb]

I think that Contreras to the IL is not happening per the Curt Hogg tweet. But Quero landing on the IL again may have forced the issues since no other catching option would be available except for those outside the organization.

[BrewCrew8675309]

Jadher was easily the most movable ranked player we had in the minors. This is a nice move. Jansen has been a big league catcher for a while and they are not free. Areinamo is behind several other infielders and we needed some pop and we don't know how bad that Contreras finger really is...we can only see the drop in slugging. They have been high on Jansen and, I am thinking, have not liked the Haase ABs. Yes, Jadher may go on to play for 15 years in the MLB but this is the price of doing business if you want to be more secure in a playoff run. 

 

Hopefully it is the start of more shoring up the roster that is roughly 20 wins over .500.  

[wiguy94]

15 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

We loved (and still love) Jadher. He's a fantastic baseball player. But, keep in mind this  is the running average expense the Brewers have for players they don't covet as highly within their own organizational metrics. Jadher is a smaller guy with some reasonable concerns when it comes to his swing decisions and mechanics. Jadher's defense will likely always be elite. Even I have major questions about how his swing will translate as the pitching challenges intensify. This trade very much reminds me of the Tristan Peters trade to SF tho we get a better caliber of player back given the better prospect being sent out.

And Tristan Peters is 25 years old repeating AAA still yet to make his MLB debut. This level of prospect has a pretty low likelihood of panning out.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Y'all are prospect-hugging pretty hard if you're getting upset about losing the 25th-ranked prospect in a move that makes the Brewers more competitive today.

[brewmann04]

We seems to have enough of these guys invthe system 

[ghostdrew]

2 hours ago, gregmag said:

This is mystifying. Our best A+ bat for a rental backup catcher?  Who’s going to like this?  The “prospects are worthless” crowd only want to acquire guys they know from ESPN; the “prospects matter” crowd only want to trade good prospects for substantial upgrades. How does this even wiggle ythe needle? 

How is he our best A + hitter

[harrydalton]

I value Areinamo more than many but it's a fair price for an experienced MLB catcher like Jansen with injury concerns for Contreras and Quero. This should also make way for Adamcziewzki at Appleton. All coǹsidered, I approve.

[wallus]

It is clear the Brewers brass does not hold as high of an opinion on Jadher as some of you. Stats wise he should have been in AA for a while but he didn't do what the organization wanted to make the move. I wish him well with the Rays.

He along with Burke and Wichrowski appear to be the most likely to be traded imo.

[Rick Daltons Flamethrower]

How is good is Jansen on  defense?

Please advise :)

[endaround]

28 minutes ago, Rick Daltons Flamethrower said:

How is good is Jansen on  defense?

Please advise :)

Bad

[CheezWizHed]

4 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

We loved (and still love) Jadher. He's a fantastic baseball player. But, keep in mind this  is the running average expense the Brewers have for players they don't covet as highly within their own organizational metrics. Jadher is a smaller guy with some reasonable concerns when it comes to his swing decisions and mechanics. Jadher's defense will likely always be elite. Even I have major questions about how his swing will translate as the pitching challenges intensify. This trade very much reminds me of the Tristan Peters trade to SF tho we get a better caliber of player back given the better prospect being sent out.

Too small? He perfectly fits the 5'8" market inefficiency the Brewers found!

1 hour ago, Rick Daltons Flamethrower said:

How is good is Jansen on  defense?

Please advise :)

A little above average per bWAR and fWAR.

[CheezWizHed]

Jansen and Ashby should become good battery mates... if taste in glasses is any indication. 

[Jason Wang]

3 hours ago, Rick Daltons Flamethrower said:

How is good is Jansen on  defense?

Please advise :)

Across his 587 innings behind the dish this year, he has been worth 2 Defensive Runs Saved.

He is one of the worst at pitch framing (-4 rSZ, -8 Framing Runs Above Average), has a decent catcher ERA of 3.68 (2 rCERA), has had mixed results controlling guys on the base paths (2 rSB, -2 Caught Stealing Runs Above Average), but is outstanding at blocks (9 Blocks Above Average, 2 Blocking Runs Saved).

In other words he is good at some things and bad at others. Not sure if that helps 😬

[gregmag]

6 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Y'all are prospect-hugging pretty hard if you're getting upset about losing the 25th-ranked prospect in a move that makes the Brewers more competitive today.

You have a pretty expansive definition of “more competitive” if you think this alleged upgrade is worth anyone who has a chance to be a useful big leaguer. Leaving aside the smug condescension of “prospect hugging,” I don’t mind trading our 25th ranked prospect at all. In fact, he’s exactly the kind of prospect I’m happy to see the Brewers trade — *for someone who helps.* I don’t immediately see how replacing one mediocre backup catcher with another mediocre backup catcher helps anything.

[JohnBriggs12]

Haase is a backup.  Jansen is a lower level starting big league catcher but a starting big league catcher nonetheless.  I suspect his role with the Brewers will be to split time with Contreras, the hope being that Contreras will be more productive playing 3-4 games a week and that Jansen provides power to the lineup 3-4 games a week.  The days of Contreras being in the lineup as DH when he's not catching are likely over for the remainder of this season also.  

Brewers feel confident they have enough middle infield prospects that Jadher was expendable.  They have earned a level of trust on their evaluation.

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 hours ago, gregmag said:

You have a pretty expansive definition of “more competitive” if you think this alleged upgrade is worth anyone who has a chance to be a useful big leaguer. Leaving aside the smug condescension of “prospect hugging,” I don’t mind trading our 25th ranked prospect at all. In fact, he’s exactly the kind of prospect I’m happy to see the Brewers trade — *for someone who helps.* I don’t immediately see how replacing one mediocre backup catcher with another mediocre backup catcher helps anything.

Jansen has a 97 OPS+ that is right in line with his career numbers. If you don't think improving the backup catcher situation while also providing Contreras insurance doesn't make the Brewers more competitive down the stretch... *shrugs*

[CheezWizHed]

49 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Jansen has a 97 OPS+ that is right in line with his career numbers. If you don't think improving the backup catcher situation while also providing Contreras insurance doesn't make the Brewers more competitive down the stretch... *shrugs*

Not to mention getting Contreras more rest (hopefully) so that he can return to his normal 120 OPS+ hitting ways instead of this 95 OPS+ current version. 

I know people expect our MiLB prospects ranked in the 20+ region to bring back All-Star level players, but this is a good trade that fills a gap in the team.  Perhaps a bit non-intuitive gap originally, but now that you see the trade and think about the situation, it makes perfect sense. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

5 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

Not to mention getting Contreras more rest (hopefully) so that he can return to his normal 120 OPS+ hitting ways instead of this 95 OPS+ current version. 

I know people expect our MiLB prospects ranked in the 20+ region to bring back All-Star level players, but this is a good trade that fills a gap in the team.  Perhaps a bit non-intuitive gap originally, but now that you see the trade and think about the situation, it makes perfect sense. 

Absolutely. I thought the Brewers might go for a backup catcher, simply because Contreras has the broken finger and hasn't been "right" all year. It's a good insurance policy, and one that fills an offensive need in a variety of ways. Jansen is *just* good enough with the bat to be useful for more than squatting behind the dish twice a week.

Let's not ignore his splits against LHP, a real weakness on the Brewers this year given all their lefty bats.

It's a smart move around the margins that improves the team. A 90th percentile Brewers move, if you will.