Why Joey Wiemer Could Be Traded

So that’s what the Brewers were planning this offseason. Despite not having a single at-bat in MLB, top prospect Jackson Chourio signed a massive eight-year extension with the Brewers with two club options at the end of it, according to Adam McCalvy. But now we are left with an obvious question facing the organization: What are we going to do with this outfield logjam?

Prior to the Chourio signing, seven outfielders were already on the 40-man roster. These players included Christian Yelich, Tyrone Taylor, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, Joey Wiemer, Blake Perkins and Chris Roller. They say you can’t have too many outfielders, but I believe eight natural outfielders seems too many on any Opening Day roster--especially with Taylor out of options and Chourio all but locked into the MLB group because of this deal.

What do you do with the other players? Ideally, we can assume both Roller and Perkins could use one of their options down to Triple-A Nashville, but that still leaves us with six players who could regularly start at the highest level. This means the Brewers could look to trade one of these players, in hopes of improving one of their problem areas in the infield.

Out of the remaining players, any could be traded, with varying value. With that in mind, I believe the player that we’ll be saying goodbye to is the former fourth-round pick out of Cincinnati. Losing any of these guys would suck, but it seems to make the most sense to trade Wiemer to a team looking for a young outfielder. Here are the reasons why Wiemer is the most likely option.

Club Control/Options
Whenever a team is trading for young outfielders, one of the key components they like is the ability to control how long the player stays with the team and how many times they can send someone down when they are in a slump. This doesn’t have to do with how many options Wiemer has, but rather how many options the other players have.

Due to Yelich’s experience, they can’t send him down (and why would they?). Meanwhile, neither Mitchell nor Frelick have used any of their options. Not sending down Frelick shows confidence in the young man, whereas not sending down Mitchell was only due to his injury. The only other player left is Taylor. The problem with him is he has no options left, and cannot be sent down without being removed from the 40-man roster and going through waivers. (He'd never clear them.)

Granted, having as many options as possible available to you builds the value of the player. But after sending him down to the minors the first time, it shows the team can survive without that player. Even a player with two options remaining gives whatever team is interested in them an opening to develop the player in their own farm system.

To top this all off, since Wiemer was called up so early in the regular season, his service-time clock started. One of his six years of team control was used up. Frelick still has six years; Mitchell has five, Taylor has three left and entered his first year of arbitration, and Chourio, well, he probably won’t be traded after signing that extension.

Whoever would get Wiemer would have five years to develop him either in the major leagues or, if he were to start slumping, in the minors. That would call for a better package than someone who has little-to-no club control left.

LHP vs RHP
Throughout Craig Counsell’s tenure as the Brewers manager, he loved playing the pitching matchup. Whenever there was a right-handed starting pitcher, he would load the lineup with a bunch of left-handed hitters, and vice-versa with a lefty starter. Wiemer excelled when it came to hitting against lefties. He had a .267/.298/517 slash line last season, hitting seven of his 13 home runs against southpaws.

However, if the Brewers want to use Yelich in the DH spot more (or even give him reps at first base), there will come a time when a right-handed hitting bat must step up and play the outfield. If you had to choose between Wiemer’s numbers against righties (.175/.277/.291) or the numbers Taylor puts up against them (.230/.272/.434), most would prefer to go with Taylor. Now, adding Chourio (who is also a right-handed hitter) into the mix, if he puts up anywhere near the same slash line as his Double-A Biloxi numbers (.280/.336/.467), then Wiemer will have no path to consistent playing time with the Brewers.

Sure, it would take time for players to develop better hitting against certain pitching, but if the Brewers are going to go through with their plans to compete in the 2024 season, the team has no time for developing.

The Rich and Healthy
With all these potential players being on the trade block, it makes you wonder why I don’t mention Christian Yelich, Tyrone Taylor or even Garrett Mitchell as the player to get traded from this team. One huge problem is the health of these players.

Mitchell is coming off a shoulder injury that sidelined him for five months, after sliding into a base wrong back in April. Yelich has lingering back problems that keep him out of games. These injuries can lower the offer for those who want outfield help.

Still think Yelich is tradable? There are 26 million reasons that can hold off that trade (not to mention a full no-trade clause.) Let’s compare that to Wiemer who, unlike Yelich, can be paid around $750,000 a year for the next two seasons. For any team who might want to go for a rebuild, they would take that young player over paying someone over $5 million and losing them in free agency in a year or so.

Taylor is less expensive than Yelich and more proven than Mitchell. However, he is set to make an estimated $1.3 million in arbitration this year. That would only rise the next few years, and he is entering his 30-year-old season. He has his own questions of durability. Just not as attractive a case as Weimer.

Déjà Vu
Call me crazy, but doesn’t this situation sound familiar? Entering the 2017 offseason, we all thought they were set at the outfield position. The Crew consisted of Ryan Braun, Keon Broxton, Domingo Santana, and two outfield prospects (Lewis Brinson and Brett Phillips) waiting in the wings. The team looked decent, just missing a playoff spot the previous year and dead-set on being ready to compete. Then, out of nowhere, they traded Brinson for Yelich and Lorenzo Cain signed a five-year, $80-million deal. At the 2018 trade deadline, Phillips was included in the Mike Moustakas deal. Santana was used as a pinch-hitter before getting traded after the 2018 season, and the rest is history.

Fast forward to today, and we may have the same thing going. Yelich is the new Braun, Mitchell is the new Broxton, Frelick is (a very different-looking) Santana, and Taylor (or even Perkins) is like Quintin Berry. Wiemer is most like Phillips or Brinson, waiting in the wings to play. We just signed a center fielder to a franchise deal  similar to Cain’s. Who, then, are the pieces to trade for “Moustakas” or “Yelich"? If history repeats itself, then we just might see multiple outfielders on the move for veteran players who can put the team over the hump.

I could easily be grasping at straws, since we heard rumors about moving on from key players such as Corbin Burnes or Willy Adames. But the Brewers have now spent some of that saved money from earlier offseason moves on a young prospect who may or may not have success in the big leagues.

That being said, I’m excited to see what the young man can do while playing for the Brewers. The organization seems confident in Chourio. Whether it be at the expense of Wiemer or any of the other outfielders has yet to be seen, but something may happen sooner rather than later.

What do you think the organization will do after their major signing. Which Brewers player do you think gets traded? Do any of the prospects get traded. Let us know in the comments below.