Let's Talk Brewers' Outfielders

[Jim Goulart]

As also posted in our Minor League Forum Winter League thread -

 

[TURBO]

Not based on the above post, but I truly think we are going to regret trading Areinamo for a couple months of Danny Jansen, who barely saw the field.

[sveumrules]

36 minutes ago, TURBO said:

Not based on the above post, but I truly think we are going to regret trading Areinamo for a couple months of Danny Jansen, who barely saw the field.

I don't doubt Areinamo will have a nice MLB career, but with guys like Pratt, Made, and Pena ahead of him up the middle, plus Wilken and Fischer at 3B, and then guys like Turang, Durbin and Ortiz already established MLBers with multiple years of control left, it's unlikely we would have a place for him anyway.

[TURBO]

3 hours ago, sveumrules said:

I don't doubt Areinamo will have a nice MLB career, but with guys like Pratt, Made, and Pena ahead of him up the middle, plus Wilken and Fischer at 3B, and then guys like Turang, Durbin and Ortiz already established MLBers with multiple years of control left, it's unlikely we would have a place for him anyway.

Possibly true, but we aren't going to keep all those guys, just no room for them all.

My real point is that I think Areinamo could have been traded for a lot more than a 2 month back-up catcher.  He has to have more value than that.  He could have been involved in a much bigger trade than we dumped him for.  It just felt like he had no value to us, so we traded him off for next to nothing for unknown reasons.

We also have a possible log jam at 1B with Adams and Burke.

We are rich with minor league players, which is a good problem to have , but some are going to have to go, I'm just hoping that when that time comes, we get impact players that will help us win it all not back-up players.

[long ball]

Hey, William Contreras went on a heater immediately following the acquisition of Jansen. While it’s possibly a little naive to think acquiring a higher quality back up motivated Contreras, I do think Jansen was acquired with the idea he’d get more than 78 players appearances. It just so happened Contreras started hitting like his career norm right after we got Jansen. 

[SeaBass]

54 minutes ago, long ball said:

Hey, William Contreras went on a heater immediately following the acquisition of Jansen. While it’s possibly a little naive to think acquiring a higher quality back up motivated Contreras, I do think Jansen was acquired with the idea he’d get more than 78 players appearances. It just so happened Contreras started hitting like his career norm right after we got Jansen. 

Not only that but what if Contreras' injury worsened and he ended up having to be shut down? It was a depth move and it does make sense. It just worked out that they didn't end up needing Jansen. They still had to prepare as if they would need someone to replace their starting catcher.

[MNBrew]

On 11/12/2025 at 4:48 PM, endaround said:

Collins did not fall off, he just wasn't played.  He had a 97 wRC+ in September. He "tanked" less than Duran (89 wRC+ in September) which everyone thinks is the guy who can put the Brewers over the top. There are reason to doubt Collins is the best hitting outfielder going forward but his September return isn't why.

Tank might be too strong of a word, but Collins did pretty seriously fall off.  September started decently.  However, after 9/12, he had 4 hits in his final 30 AB including an 0-20+ slump, then was 0-9 in the postseason w/ 7 K's.  That slump is why Murph stopped playing him as much as before.  He just couldn't get back on track.  The longer the games went on, the worse his ABs got.

He may be fine with the offseason to regroup and come into next year fresh -- one slump rarely signals a terminal situation -- and he wasn't alone in his late-season/postseason struggles.  But I lost short-term confidence in him and I know I wasn't alone.  I hope he comes back looking more like his summer-long self because that version of Collins was really good.  All that said, having a 4th starting-caliber OF after Chourio, Frelick, & Collins is essential -- and I'd say after Mitchell, too, because the injury history suggests a backup plan (more than Perkins) would be very, very prudent.

[TURBO]

13 hours ago, MNBrew said:

-- and I'd say after Mitchell, too, because the injury history suggests a backup plan (more than Perkins) would be very, very prudent.

@BrewerFan

[BrewerFan]

6 hours ago, TURBO said:

@BrewerFan

AGAIN, when you wrote this;

Quote

I realize your schtick on this board is argument and conflict

You really lacked any self awareness, didn't you?

 

Why are you even tagging me on this? Have I EVER argued otherwise? I've said I don't think you can trust Mitchell. Sadly, he's got diabetes and that impacts his ability to recover from injuries.

I just don't feel the need to force it into EVERY conversation or reply to EVERYONE who lists Mitchell among our OFers "Mitchell will be hurt by April." 

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Turning2]

On 11/13/2025 at 12:19 PM, Thurston Fluff said:

This is probably not going to be a popular take but I wouldn't be opposed to giving Black a legitimate shot in left. I know the conventional thought is the Brewers have soured on him or Murphy doesn't trust him but I'm not so sure conventional wisdom is right in this case. It may have been as simple as wanting to keep him playing everyday to improve his defense and not wanting to yo-yo him between AAA and the majors.

It would be nice to see him get at least half a season of regular at bats to see what he can do at this level. But I think the ship has sailed away on him

[Thurston Fluff]

3 hours ago, Turning2 said:

It would be nice to see him get at least half a season of regular at bats to see what he can do at this level. But I think the ship has sailed away on him

With Collins out of the picture I think there's a better chance he gets a legitimate shot now than there was. 

[duewizard]

20 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

With Collins out of the picture I think there's a better chance he gets a legitimate shot now than there was. 

I think he will get a real chance to fight for that 5th OF spot. Assuming Chourio, Frelick, Mitchell (if healthy) and Perkins are locks, he probably has to beat Lockridge, Berroa and Badoo. Possibly Bauers too.

[TURBO]

45 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

With Collins out of the picture I think there's a better chance he gets a legitimate shot now than there was. 

Yeah, he deserves a real shot.

I can just see it though.  He goes through June, gets about 4-5 at bats a week, doesn't produce, then everyone freaks out and calls him a bust, etc...

He needs a legit shot, like starting 5 games a week for an extended period of time before we know what he can do.

[Turning2]

Yep, that’s the kind of playing time I’m talking about too. Just don’t think they will afford that to him. 

[tmwiese55]

Anybody do any digging on Austin Hays and have much of an opinion on him?  Seems in our price range, RH, hits lefties well I think, no long term commitment. Not awesome or having much experience with needles, but would seem to raise the floor of OF and reduce the need to rely on the guys who are better suited as 4th OFs.  Quick glance seems he'd have to be LF so one of Chourio/Frelick becomes primary CF.

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Team Canada]

To be honest, if the league is somewhere between AA and AAA (I don't remember what the exact analogy would be), that's kinda what you'd hope he'd be doing? It's still terrific, obviously.

[Jopal78]

On 12/23/2025 at 2:41 PM, TURBO said:

Yeah, he deserves a real shot.

I can just see it though.  He goes through June, gets about 4-5 at bats a week, doesn't produce, then everyone freaks out and calls him a bust, etc...

He needs a legit shot, like starting 5 games a week for an extended period of time before we know what he can do.

Black has a career OPS of .808 in AAA (including the 40 game stint in 2023 when he ripped the cover off the ball).

To put that in context Perkins, Frelick and Mitchell all had an OPS in AAA of .821 or higher.

I get it, the Brewers invested a first round pick in Tyler Black, but the reality is his play in AAA will need to bust the door down to the major leagues rather than getting “a shot” because of former first round pick status. 

[Jim Goulart]