Nyjer Morgan - Is it Time to Move On?

[TooLiveBrew]

Oh I don't disagree -- but I think it speaks well to his character as a teammate & team-player that he's had no complaints. There are plenty of players who'd be pretty unhappy with being relegated to the playing time Morgan has coming off of the best year in their careers. I don't mean to imply the Brewers should just keep him indefinitely because of this, but more to highlight the team-first attitude of a player who the Brewers got on the cheap because of his supposed attitude problems.

[bjkrautk]

Schafer isn't performing at near the level he did in AAA last year, and Morgan is finally bringing his numbers closer to his career stat lines.

 

Even if one were to off-load Morgan and called up Schafer, he'd still be in Nyjer's role as the 4th man fighting for 2.5 spots in the everyday lineup (since Corey will be back to sharing duties at 1b when Ishikawa comes off the DL). He wouldn't play regularly, and if Schafer struggles, all we'd hear about is how he's not getting a fair shot.

 

If the Brewers are out of contention in September, I'm all for calling him up when the rosters expand and letting him play nearly full-time. Even if we are in contention, Aoki is probably going to need more down-time, given the difference between MLB and Japanese seasons. I'd entertain the idea of calling him up if Schafer starts lighting things up (or if there's an injury to one of their outfielders), but I don't see a need to speed up his service time when he'd end up sitting on the bench more often than not.

[TooLiveBrew]

I don't think "elite" should be thrown around regarding Schafer's OF defense just yet. "Very good" or "getting 110% out of his skillset", sure. But Carlos Gomez he is not.

 

Fair enough, elite was too strong a description. I do think it is safe to say that Schafer is the 2nd best defensive outfielder in the Brewers organization and a pretty big upgrade over Morgan defensively.

Don't get me wrong -- I know what you meant in saying "elite", but I think I'd describe him as having elite defensive instincts, with more average to above-avg. physical skills. Combined, I think saying only Gomez is better than him in the entire org. seems about right... but Aoki might be neck & neck with Schafer. I really think Aoki's defense doesn't get enough love. He's similar to Schafer in that he doesn't have the speed of a Morgan or (obv.) Gomez, but he takes good routes & seems to read the ball off the bat pretty well.

[monty57]

To me it comes down to what you think you could get out of Morgan in trade and what your plans are for him this offseason. If we're not planning on offering him arby (he'd probably make $3MM next year), then if we don't trade him we will lose him for nothing. In that case, it make more sense to me to trade him for something this season rather than letting him play out the season and just lose him. The value received in trade simply has to equal a half season of Morgan's play, plus we'd save a little over $1MM.

 

Morgan's not going to bring back a star prospect, but to a team looking for a CF, 1.5 years of Morgan should be worth something. Maybe it's only a middle reliever/setup guy, a "high upside" A-baller, or a bench bat, but even that could have more value to the Brewers than Morgan if we are planning on dumping him at the end of the season anyway.

 

Of course, if Melvin wants to offer Morgan arby, then this is moot. If that happens, Schafer's career path is going the route of Gamel and Green.

[paul253]

There is no reason Nyger Morgan should be on this team next season. To me, the only question is this: Will you get more for him at the trade deadline or in the off-season?

 

The center field competition next season should be between Gomez and Schafer and I'd be fine with a platoon. Aoki in right, Braun if left. For the 5th outfielder I'd prefer someone with some power. Nyger Morgan has served his purpose since he's been here but in 2013 he is not needed.

[monty57]

To me, the only question is this: Will you get more for him at the trade deadline or in the off-season?

 

Unless I'm mistaken, the only way they can trade him this offseason is if they offer him arby/sign him to a deal. If they don't want him on the team next year, there is obviously risk in signing him to try trading him.

[adambr2]

We can keep saying we're 5.5 out, 6.5 out, whatever, but every time we have had a chance to get back in it this season, we fail to take advantage.

[CheezWizHed]

Schafer isn't performing at near the level he did in AAA last year...

 

Might want to check again:

 

2011: 315/385/439/824

2012: 303/357/465/822

 

Thats pretty close to the same.

[logan82]

This year's line is much worse. Almost 30 points of OBP is pretty big.

[JohnBriggs12]

This year's line is much worse. Almost 30 points of OBP is pretty big.

 

Last year in the first half, he had a .368 OBP at Huntsville. So there is almost no difference. He had a terrific 2nd half when moved up to Nashville. He's been on fire in June: .408/.429/.620, so it's logical to assume he'll have better overall numbers this year, playing a full year at AAA.

 

The statement "much worse" is a gross exaggeration. In fact, Schafer's AAA numbers in 112 games are significantly better than what Morgan did in his 128 games at that level. Schafer's line: .314/.374/.486. Morgan's line: .302/.361/.367. And it wasn't as if Morgan was a kid in AAA either. The bulk of his AAA time was when he was 26/27.

[CheezWizHed]

A little worse than last year, yes. "Much worse" and "isn't near the level" simply isn't true.

 

Plus, he started very slow and is heating up quickly.

[Funketown]

If I recall Morgan didn't have nearly the baseball experience of a typical prospect though so comparing his MiLB numbers is always a bit awkward.

 

I remember looking at Schafer's AAA line this year and being disappointed. Glad to hear he has started hitting.

[Menace II Sobriety]

After seeing these mental lapses the past few weeks by and quoting Nyjer "Aaaaaaaahhh gotta go".

[Baldkin]

1) He's raised his OPS 225 points in 6 weeks (since May 8th), while carring a .360 OBP in that time frame. He hasn't been the problem.

2) He doesn't make any more mental mistakes then the rest of this team does, like Gomez getting picked off with Braun up, Aoki making the last out at 3B or deciding to throw the ball around the infield like a little league team to lose a game.