Brewers Sign Luis Rengifo to 1yr Deal

[treego14]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I'm thoroughly whelmed.

Can we trade this guy for Caleb Durbin?

[Jopal78]

14 minutes ago, mudbutt said:

He put up the second highest OPS in league and better numbers last year other than Braun of the Brewers you mentioned. I don’t know why you keep aggregating his numbers when he put up a .876 OPS last year. Now you are saying he’s old and someone pointed out he’s still younger than the average age for the league.

Wilken has his flaws but those aren’t the arguments you are making.

I didn’t say he was old. Someone argued he was “young” for AA last season. That argument is flawed. 

Sure a high school draftee or 17 year old kid can be overmatched  playing against fully grown men.

But a college draftee who turned pro 3 years ago in AA; where a 1/3 of the players on his own team were younger than he was? Sorry no. 
 

Adding up all the ages of every player and dividing that by the total number of players in a league doesn’t tell us anything useful in this context. 

 

[brewerfan82]

1 minute ago, Jopal78 said:

But a college draftee who turned pro 3 years ago on AA, where a 1/3 of the players on his own team were younger than he was.

So 2/3 of the players were older than him too...

Wilken's ranked the 9th best 3B prospect in baseball on MLB.com (https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/3b/). I don't think people are arguing that he's the next coming of Mike Schmidt, just that he's a good prospect that doesn't "suck" (not your words, just where this convo started to ramp up) and if healthy has a good chance of making it to the big leagues sometime this year.

[RobertCrawley]

Nick Castellanos is free for the moment. True, he breaks the rules sometimes and takes a beer into the dugout. But that can't be disqualifying in Milwaukee, can it?

[wallus]

4 minutes ago, RobertCrawley said:

Nick Castellanos is free for the moment. True, he breaks the rules sometimes and takes a beer into the dugout. But that can't be disqualifying in Milwaukee, can it?

Signed with the Padres

[edfunderburk]

What is the correct pronunciation of Rengifo?

[Ro Mueller]

16 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

What is the correct pronunciation of Rengifo?

Bonne chance avec ceci: from an Angels’ pronunciation guide.

[SF70]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

I hope you’re right, but remember even when the Brewers had Hart, Hardy, Weeks, Braun, Fielder, there were still “meh” players brought aboard every year 

The team back in those days didn’t have the farm system depth and prospect-procurement system they enjoy today. The current team has multiple waves of prospect talent on both sides of the ball and at virtually every level of their system maturing and getting ready to graduate impact talent as soon as next season, possibly even late this season.

[LouisEly]

15 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Right. Wilken hasn’t played a full season since turning pro because of injuries, and has a .784 OPS in A and AA as a college age player. Nothing there suggests he sees the majors anytime soon. 

League average OPS for the Southern League was .660 last season, .664 the year before.

[Underachiever]

8 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I'm thoroughly whelmed.

I’m totally plussed.

[SoCalBrewfan]

The Brewers are always going to be acquiring scrap heap guys. There is no amount of farm system success that is likely to change that. Why? Because they have had success with it, and because there will always be a need for complementary players to supplement a team. Many of them will never do more than filling out the AA or AAA roster, but that's also something is needed.

People get weird about these signings, and they won't all work, but even scrap heap guys are generally really good baseball players who have a chance to thrive in the right system with the right opportunity. Did anyone jump up and down about Megill or Koenig when they were acquired?  Often there are the snarky comments, okay print the World Series tickets now, we got some guy named Blake Perkins. You don't win if all you have are the Blake Perkins of the world, but they can patch holes and a few of them will surprise you. There's very likely one of the minor league signing from this offseason who will play an important role at some point this year. Eddys Leonard? Gerson Garabito? Greg Jones? Who knows. Personally I love to see a guy like that get a chance and run with it.

Rengifo is a guy that seemed like a great add two years or so ago. It's just like the Brewers to pick him up after an off year to fill a gap. Maybe he fills the 3b hole all year, maybe he's a platoon bat and IF depth piece, maybe his bat doesn't recover or he has lost a step defensively. He seems like a step down with the glove, unless I've missed something, but then nobody thought Durbin was playable at third and the Brewers made it work. Not much risked, in any event. He's not blocking anyone, and IMO his role is to fill the hole until some of the other options clarify.

The Brewers do seem to have a lot of confidence in their ability to construct a roster that looked deeply flawed but then fill holes deep into spring training or even into the regular season. They have been right in many cases, but there's part of me that thinks this sequence of transactions this year might come back to bite them a bit. Hope not, of course.

There are enough young infielders coming up that any holes might be only short term, but none of the young guys seem to me very likely to be a quality major leaguer in 2026, save perhaps Jett, and I don't think it's clear whether he fits in the infield at all. In any event Biloxi and Nashville will be interesting viewing this year, and I expect the lineup they end the year with to have some wrinkles that few of us could guess right now. 

Lots of fighting about Wilken but I don't think anyone knows for sure what to expect of him. Some of the arguments here are more than a bit thin, and just stating that he 'sucks' is the sort of thing that adds zero to any conversation. Fluky injuries, to be sure, and I think it's a win for him to become any kind of hitter after his face injury, much less one of the best in the Southern League. Still, he was essentially repeating AA (neither old nor young for the league, really) and there are big questions about his contact and defense that need to be answered. He was on the MLB list of top 3b prospects, but that list was really thin this year, without a single top 100 prospect. Maybe I'm selling him short, but I don't have him penciled in for substantial major league PAs this year. Honestly, the guys who seem most likely to take the 3b job at some point are all at least a year away (Made, Pena, Fischer).

The point is always for the Brewers that you can't be certain that any one of those guys is going to be the guy. It goes for the infielders but the pitchers as well. That's why they just keep adding names to the list: if it's not Black that steps up, maybe it's Wilken, or Adams, or whoever is next in line. 

[TURBO]

Is Adams even still playing 3B?

I've seen his name thrown around a few times with mentions of playing 3B, is that still a thing?

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm not excited by the signing nor am I discouraged.  I still believe management that drafted Wilken in round 1 a few years ago secretly really hopes he starts banging balls out of the park in AAA with regularity this year and forces his way into the Brewer lineup by August.

[markedman5]

6 hours ago, edfunderburk said:

What is the correct pronunciation of Rengifo?

Sorry couldn’t resist 😎

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fnear_pure_evil%2Fimages%2F6%2F65%2FWaingro.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fthumbnail%2Fwidth%2F360%2Fheight%2F450%3Fcb%3D20240215205844&tbnid=I1j-bnDnvu8SPM&vet=1&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fnear-pure-evil.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FWaingro&docid=IzKd-f-LsuvyqM&w=360&h=258&itg=1&hl=en-US&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim%2Fm4%2F0&kgs=7f3bb54ed484e52e

 

 

[Jopal78]

9 hours ago, brewerfan82 said:

So 2/3 of the players were older than him too...

Wilken's ranked the 9th best 3B prospect in baseball on MLB.com (https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/3b/). I don't think people are arguing that he's the next coming of Mike Schmidt, just that he's a good prospect that doesn't "suck" (not your words, just where this convo started to ramp up) and if healthy has a good chance of making it to the big leagues sometime this year.

That’s where we disagree.
 

Sure anything is possible, but he‘s not on the 40 man roster. With plenty of players the Brewers need and/or like ahead of Wilken it could very well be the end of the discussion for ‘26.

He necessarily is going to have to force their hand with his play, and keep his contact rate up as he faces better pitching. Time will tell if he can do it,  

[kxm]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

That’s where we disagree.
 

Sure anything is possible, but he‘s not on the 40 man roster. With plenty of players the Brewers need and/or like ahead of Wilken it could very well be the end of the discussion for ‘26.

He necessarily is going to have to force their hand with his play, and keep his contact rate up as he faces better pitching. Time will tell if he can do it,  

Is Made on the 40 man? The 40 man is to protect rule 5 draft players not an indication of how the brewers rank the player. Not saying Wilkins is the heir apparent. The reality is the Brewers prioritize optional. 

[Jopal78]

53 minutes ago, kxm said:

Is Made on the 40 man? The 40 man is to protect rule 5 draft players not an indication of how the brewers rank the player. Not saying Wilkins is the heir apparent. The reality is the Brewers prioritize optional. 

No. The 40 man roster primarily defines who can be called up to the major leagues. 

Wilken wouldn’t even be Rule 5 eligible until after the conclusion of the ‘26 season so I’m not sure what the Rule 5 draft has to do with anything. 

 

 

 

[brewcrewdue80]

Rengifo's career splits show him above 800 OPS batting 1st, 3rd, and 4th while below 700 OPS 6, 7, & 8, and below 600 OPS for 9th.

 

Clearly platoon vs LHP or Pinch hit vs lefties. Is Hamilton better vs RHs?

Having looked indeed Hamilton's splits are better for him vs RHP throughout his professional career. Nothing in 800s but above 700 for most part.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Quote

No. The 40 man roster primarily defines who can be called up to the major leagues. 

I think you're seriously misinterpreting this. Managing the 40 man roster is way more than that. The Brewers do so carefully, and won't add someone before they need to because then they start burning options. It's not easy to move guys off once they are on, and poor choices here can lead to losing flexibility and even having to trade or release a player before you are ready. 

Quote

Wilken wouldn’t even be Rule 5 eligible until after the conclusion of the ‘26 season so I’m not sure what the Rule 5 draft has to do with anything. 

Understanding the rules regarding rule 5 protection and options are essential to managing the 40 man roster. Since Wilken is first eligible for Rule 5 in December 2026, it's poor management to put him on the 40 man until the moment you need him to be in the big leagues. If he's on the 40, he needs to be optioned in order to be assigned to the minor leagues, and there are only three option years in which that can be done, after which you can lose his rights. With him not on the 40, he can hone his craft in AAA and if he's ready, you make the 40-man move then and there. Not being on the 40 in spring training has nothing to do with how the Brewers regard him. In fact, keeping him off the 40 is done in part because he has some potential value that they don't want to risk losing prematurely. 

[Jopal78]

6 hours ago, SoCalBrewfan said:

I think you're seriously misinterpreting this. Managing the 40 man roster is way more than that. The Brewers do so carefully, and won't add someone before they need to because then they start burning options. It's not easy to move guys off once they are on, and poor choices here can lead to losing flexibility and even having to trade or release a player before you are ready. 

Understanding the rules regarding rule 5 protection and options are essential to managing the 40 man roster. Since Wilken is first eligible for Rule 5 in December 2026, it's poor management to put him on the 40 man until the moment you need him to be in the big leagues. If he's on the 40, he needs to be optioned in order to be assigned to the minor leagues, and there are only three option years in which that can be done, after which you can lose his rights. With him not on the 40, he can hone his craft in AAA and if he's ready, you make the 40-man move then and there. Not being on the 40 in spring training has nothing to do with how the Brewers regard him. In fact, keeping him off the 40 is done in part because he has some potential value that they don't want to risk losing prematurely. 

My point is, the 40 man roster is full, there is not a lot of chaff there to begin with, yet there are other non-roster players likely to see Milwaukee before Wilken. So it could be a numbers/opportunity thing with him.

Verbosity aside, I do not think you’re saying anything different;  so I don’t know what I’m seriously misinterpreting. 
 

 

[Austin Tatious]

More ifs than I am comfortable with but if Rengifo and Hamilton are more 2024 than 2025, we can be ok in the IF.

For improved pop, if Mitchell finally gets a full season, Vaughn avoids deep funks. Chourio takes a leap commensurate with his immense talent, Yelich has less wear and tear in his DH role, our pop could improve.

For offsetting Peralta, if Woody stays healthy.  Priester doesn’t step back, Mis keeps improving command  

These are not entirely ridiculous hopes but certainly they are squarely in the IFs category IMO.  

[liveforoctober]

26 minutes ago, Austin Tatious said:

For improved pop, if Mitchell finally gets a full season, Vaughn avoids deep funks. Chourio takes a leap commensurate with his immense talent, Yelich has less wear and tear in his DH role, our pop could improve.

I'd be very curious to hear what everyone here thinks is an appropriate place for the Brewers to end up in terms of total team home runs. 

We hit 166 last year which put us somewhere in the low 20s in terms of rankings. The Red Sox had 20 more and they were 15th so they were the last of the top half of the league. 

I think there is an okay argument that if Mitchell and Contreras don't get hurt last year.. we probably hit 15 to 20 more home runs and we are right there in the middle of the pack.

Middle of the pack feels like a great place to be considered what we do best and what makes our offense formidable.

I know a bunch of responses here will be "you always want to hit more home runs" .. and of course, but at what expense?

[Klantz27]

Imagine having Cooper pratt, Jesus Made, luis pena, jett williams, andrew fischer in the system and you nimwits are talking about brock wilken laughable

Hell luke adams, eric bitonti, josh adamczewski will all probably have better carrers than wilken

[Frisbee Slider]

I don’t follow minor leagues as close as others but Wilken’s .876 OPS in Biloxi last season is not too shabby.

[MVP2110]

29 minutes ago, Klantz27 said:

Imagine having Cooper pratt, Jesus Made, luis pena, jett williams, andrew fischer in the system and you nimwits are talking about brock wilken laughable

Hell luke adams, eric bitonti, josh adamczewski will all probably have better carrers than wilken

Made, Pena, & Fischer are unlikely to make it to the big leagues this year

Adams, Bitonti, & Adamczewski arent likely to play 3B in the majors