Brewers Interested In Orioles First Baseman Ryan O'Hearn

[Brock Beauchamp]

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has reported the Brewers are showing interest in first baseman/corner outfielder. The 32-year-old O'Hearn has 12 home runs, a .284/.375/.452 slash line, a .360 wOBA and a 133 wRC+ through 92 games, though he has cooled to .218 with a .684 OPS since May 27. He is earning $3.8 million this season, leaving approximately $2.5 million owed, and can become a free agent in November. 

O’Hearn would give Milwaukee another option at first base while Rhys Hoskins rehabs a left-thumb sprain that is projected to sideline him until mid-to-late August. Andrew Vaughn has filled in capably, and switch-hitting rookie Isaac Collins has taken most of the reps in left field, but manager Pat Murphy has still searched for extra left-side power. 

That need is clear in the numbers: entering Monday, Brewers left-handed hitters ranked 21st in slugging percentage (.380) and 23rd in home runs (33). Only designated hitter Christian Yelich (20 homers) and Jackson Chourio (17) have exceeded O’Hearn’s total.

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[Madhawk23]

What are we thinking that it would realistically take to get O'Hearn from the O's?  Rental 1B/DH putting up solid numbers this year.  Is this worth one of our young SP's with many years of control left (Henderson, Patrick or Myers)?  Personally, I don't think it is, but I'm guessing that the O's would at least want one of them for O'Hearn.  If not one of them, I think I'd be OK going with a Luke Adams and Tyson Hardin package.  Would certainly sting to lose both of those guys from our system (whom I do like), but I'm guessing that's the type of package that it'll probably take to get them - if we aren't OK giving up one of the three controllable SP's mentioned above.  

[TURBO]

22 minutes ago, Madhawk23 said:

What are we thinking that it would realistically take to get O'Hearn from the O's?  Rental 1B/DH putting up solid numbers this year.  Is this worth one of our young SP's with many years of control left (Henderson, Patrick or Myers)?  Personally, I don't think it is, but I'm guessing that the O's would at least want one of them for O'Hearn.  If not one of them, I think I'd be OK going with a Luke Adams and Tyson Hardin package.  Would certainly sting to lose both of those guys from our system (whom I do like), but I'm guessing that's the type of package that it'll probably take to get them - if we aren't OK giving up one of the three controllable SP's mentioned above.  

Too much imo.

[Madhawk23]

1 minute ago, TURBO said:

Too much imo.

I don't disagree, but something tells me that's probably what it would take to get a guy like O'Hearn.  Heck....we just gave up a top 30 prospect yesterday for a backup catcher.  O'Hearn is one of the best rental bats on the market this deadline and is an All-Star this year.  

[Lloyd330]

No need for him

[SRB]

He's difficult to price because he has been horrible since June 1. Can't expect him to stay ice cold, but also do not want to pay for his career months in April/May.

[Team Canada]

His July OPS isn't horrible (.722), but certainly accurate that he was on fire April-May and nowhere near that since.

That's the challenge with rentals - it's a gamble whether you're going to get value out of them the last couple months of the season or not.

[TURBO]

I'm out on O'Hearn, I'd rather roll with Vaughn and hope and pray the magic continues.

I'm not putting guys like Henderson, Hardin, Myers, Patrick, Adams, Burke, etc on the table for this guy.  He just isn't reliable, and not a big enough needle mover.

[TURBO]

4 hours ago, Madhawk23 said:

I don't disagree, but something tells me that's probably what it would take to get a guy like O'Hearn.  Heck....we just gave up a top 30 prospect yesterday for a backup catcher.  O'Hearn is one of the best rental bats on the market this deadline and is an All-Star this year.  

Just because we over-paid for our new back-up catcher, doesn't mean we should continue to over-pay for anyone else.

Also, because he is one of the best bats available, doesn't mean he is worth what it costs to get him.  If Carlos Santana is the best bat available, would you offer the same package that it would take to get O'Hearn?  He may be the best bat available, but that doesn't mean he is worth what it would cost to land him.

Pass.

[RWeeksFan23]

turbo, one thing i've noticed in a lot of threads, is that you're too in love with our prospects in general and too unwilling to trade any of them.

You've gotta be give something to get something, and ultimately, most of these middle of the road prospects aren't going to amount to much in the big leagues.

[TURBO]

16 minutes ago, RWeeksFan23 said:

turbo, one thing i've noticed in a lot of threads, is that you're too in love with our prospects in general and too unwilling to trade any of them.

You've gotta be give something to get something, and ultimately, most of these middle of the road prospects aren't going to amount to much in the big leagues.

That is partly true, I can't lie.

However, if we are going to part with top prospects (which is our lifeline since we don't dabble into the free agent pool for the big guys) then it better be for better players than Ryan "freaking" O'Hearn.

I hate rentals that cost us players that have 5+ years of team control.  Rentals can have a sneaky way of not working out, and that just doesn't sit well with me.

[Lloyd330]

12 minutes ago, TURBO said:

That is partly true, I can't lie.

However, if we are going to part with top prospects (which is our lifeline since we don't dabble into the free agent pool for the big guys) then it better be for better players than Ryan "freaking" O'Hearn.

I hate rentals that cost us players that have 5+ years of team control.  Rentals can have a sneaky way of not working out, and that just doesn't sit well with me.

Your a person that just doesn't like taking risks

[SeaBass]

10 minutes ago, Lloyd330 said:

Your a person that just doesn't like taking risks

I don't think that's true about Turbo at all. If you've paid attention to Turbo's posts over the years he's heavily invested in the minor league players. That goes beyond just knowing who the Brewers top prospects are. He goes to games specifically to watch those guys play. They aren't just names on paper to him. There's a deeper connection there. He's simply admitting his bias and there's a reason he has that bias.

[KCBrewerfan34]

Somebody tell Turbo, all the prospects can’t/wont make the bigs. Identify the iffy prospects and trade them to help the big club, especially when the MLB team has thee best record in the bigs. Geez 

[Playing Catch]

I shouldn't speak for @TURBO, but I think his acknowledged bias is, in part, due to going to a lot of T-Rats games and liking what he sees. I think that's a credit to him.

In my humble opinion, Areinamo for Jansen doesn't represent an overpay, no matter how much Turbo and @Joseph Zarr love him. He projects as a good utility player. Those types of players are awesome (e.g. Perkins, Collins, Seigler, etc.), but they aren't rare or hard to acquire. Jansen's skills are MUCH tougher to acquire.

With THAT said, I don't know that finding an average corner-lefty-bat should be any tougher to find than a good glove, average bat catcher. I don't think O'Hearn is worth even an Areinamo.

[Team Canada]

1 hour ago, KCBrewerfan34 said:

Somebody tell Turbo, all the prospects can’t/wont make the bigs. Identify the iffy prospects and trade them to help the big club, especially when the MLB team has thee best record in the bigs. Geez 

Assuming this isn't sarcasm, it would certainly be convenient if all other GMs only want the prospects we flag as iffy.

[Joseph Zarr]

48 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I shouldn't speak for @TURBO, but I think his acknowledged bias is, in part, due to going to a lot of T-Rats games and liking what he sees. I think that's a credit to him.

In my humble opinion, Areinamo for Jansen doesn't represent an overpay, no matter how much Turbo and @Joseph Zarr love him. He projects as a good utility player. Those types of players are awesome (e.g. Perkins, Collins, Seigler, etc.), but they aren't rare or hard to acquire. Jansen's skills are MUCH tougher to acquire.

With THAT said, I don't know that finding an average corner-lefty-bat should be any tougher to find than a good glove, average bat catcher. I don't think O'Hearn is worth even an Areinamo.

Why are you tagging me here? I liked the trade. I don't and didn't consider it an overpay. It's good for the player (change of scenery and immediately promoted to Double-A Montgomery) and it's a depth upgrade for the Brewers in what has turned into a fascinating season. Now we'll all get to see how Jadher's swing mechanics play in a tougher environment with older more savvy pitchers. The Shuckers play Montgomery the last week in August. He will join old friend, and fellow 21-year-old, former T-Rats and Brewers INF Gregory Barrios.

[gregmag]

The caustic edge of some people here who think they’re paragons of courage and vision because they’re happy trading any given prospect for any given rental is exhausting.

Every decision involves risk. Trading for Ryan O’Hearn entails risk, yes. So does standing pat with Andrew Vaughn. So does cutting bait on Logan Henderson or whomever. 

Assessing value is hard. There are good deadline deals and bad deadline deals. Defaulting to only caring about rentals’ value and not caring about prospects’ value isn’t some kind of moral and intellectual high ground.

(To be clear, a bunch of people have made strong cases for the Jansen trade, and I completely respect their points.)

 

[Playing Catch]

6 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Why are you tagging me here? I liked the trade. I don't and didn't consider it an overpay. It's good for the player (change of scenery and immediately promoted to Double-A Montgomery) and it's a depth upgrade for the Brewers in what has turned into a fascinating season.

I guess I will always think of you when I think of Areinamo, as you were one of the first to identify him as an underrated prospect.

I appreciate that. Sorry to lump you in with the trade-naysayers.

[Joseph Zarr]

25 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I guess I will always think of you when I think of Areinamo, as you were one of the first to identify him as an underrated prospect.

I appreciate that. Sorry to lump you in with the trade-naysayers.

No worries. To me, this writing has been on the wall for most of this season. When Jadher wasn't placed at Double-A - regardless of prospect traffic jams; heck, they chose Jheremy Vargas over Areinamo. I think we all know Vargas isn't half the player Jadher is - and then the org repeatedly used the same talking points about swing decisions etc. it led me to believe (and, this has been vetted in certain back channels) there may have been something else going on with the player. I'll just leave it at that. I wish him all the best. He's an extremely fun player to watch play the game. Double-A will be a very very real test for Him.

[TURBO]

3 hours ago, Lloyd330 said:

Your a person that just doesn't like taking risks

lol

Thanks for the psychological evaluation, but if you knew me better, you'd know that just isn't true.

[TURBO]

3 hours ago, SeaBass said:

I don't think that's true about Turbo at all. If you've paid attention to Turbo's posts over the years he's heavily invested in the minor league players. That goes beyond just knowing who the Brewers top prospects are. He goes to games specifically to watch those guys play. They aren't just names on paper to him. There's a deeper connection there. He's simply admitting his bias and there's a reason he has that bias.

ahhhh, somebody gets me.  

😄

All that you just typed is truth in a nutshell.

[markedman5]

8 hours ago, Lloyd330 said:

Your a person that just doesn't like taking risks

No he’s a person that will take calculated risks but wants to be smart about it.

Big market teams can afford to unload prospects and then just replace them in free agency……….we can’t do that.

If Arnold has proven anything it’s that he usually knows what he’s doing.

Lets see what happens.

[markedman5]

8 hours ago, KCBrewerfan34 said:

Somebody tell Turbo, all the prospects can’t/wont make the bigs. Identify the iffy prospects and trade them to help the big club, especially when the MLB team has thee best record in the bigs. Geez 

Other teams aren’t looking for “ iffy prospects “ for the kind of upgrades people want………….its a sellers market.

Im sure Arnold is willing to give up some prospects……but that doesn’t mean other teams are willing to give us what we want for those prospects. 

[Scooterfletcher]

7 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

Other teams aren’t looking for “ iffy prospects “ for the kind of upgrades people want………….its a sellers market.

Im sure Arnold is willing to give up some prospects……but that doesn’t mean other teams are willing to give us what we want for those prospects. 

Other teams also aren’t trading studs .  And I’m fine calling teams bluff to the last minute and maybe landing a Castro, Kwan, Mauricio since our offer of guys not including Pratt, Henderson, etc happened to be best after all.