Should Jeff Bianchi be given a chance? Latest -- He Will! Bianchi to be added to 40-man, called up

[rickh150]

Don't we have issues at SS? Jeff Bianchi is hitting .321 at AAA, .330 for the year at AA and AAA. I know he probably isn't the answer, but I'd take my chances on him for a couple weeks hitting in the #8 spot. He's only had 3 errors this year. Plus, Money thinks enough of him that he hit 3rd for Nashville yesterday. Call him up (Izturis down). Time is not on our side to get this thing turned around. Go with the hot bats.

[pacopete4]

Money talks in all of these situations. Unfortunately. I'd cut Izzy in a heart beat but they won't.

[Invader3K]

From what I understand, he was slumping for a while, but seems to be heating up again of late. I don't see any reason not to call him and DFA Izturis. Not sure about his defense, but the way this season is going, I'd like to at least see what he can do at the big league level.

[3and2Fastball]

The concern with Bianchi is his defense, which apparently he is improving on but still not MLB ready yet. He's always been able to hit

[HiAndTight]

Money talks in all of these situations. Unfortunately. I'd cut Izzy in a heart beat but they won't.

 

 

That's almost literally NEVER been the situation under Attansio. Especially for a guy the price of Izturis.

 

Attansio is spending 106 million on this team to compete this year, and you think a few hundred K may be stopping the Brewers from improving their team?

 

We're almost at the halfway point. Bianchi getting called up saves the Brewers how much money? 225K?

[Bombers]

The obligatory "Let's bring up thread!" Awesome! We have one every year and this is a fitting one.

 

I am all for Bianchi getting called up and DFA'ing Izturis. Late in games you could always put in Ransom for Defense as he has shown to be pretty reliable on defense. Come on Doug, get it done, give Bianchi a shot!!!

[Bombers]

In addition, if for some miracle someone claims Izturis or he refuses to report to AAA, we still have Maysonet as an injury replacement.

[JohnBriggs12]

The concern with Bianchi is his defense, which apparently he is improving on but still not MLB ready yet. He's always been able to hit

 

Are you just speculating or do you know this to be true? A .969 career fielding percentage for a SS drafted out if HS is better than average. Granted I don't know about range but he was a high pick (2nd round) for KC which means he didn't miss the first round by much and he's not been moved off of SS. I did hear Roenicke I believe say there were some concerns about arm strength early in spring but they talked to him and he seemed to rectify it. If he were that bad, they would have moved him. He was making steady progress through a very good Royals system, hitting .315/.356/.441 at AA at age 22. At some point in 2009, he got hurt though and missed all of 2010. After missing all of 2010, the Royals acquired Escobar, Bianchi was forced to go back to AA, and he had his worst offensive year, not all that unlike what Green experienced coming off an injury in 2011 and he became expendable. Like Green, the 2nd year back from injury and he's right back on track.

 

Maybe he's not your top prospect and his ceiling might be only that of an adequate major league SS, but take a look at all the 27 and 28 year old guys playing SS at AAA hitting .230. Bianchi is a guy they should at least look at for 2-3 months. All Star potential? No. A guy that will hit a modest .260-.270 with some but not much power, and an adequate glove is better than they have now.

[craigharmann]

To borrow a phrase, "Izturis is who we thought he was"....and that's not a good player. So why not try Bianchi? He can't be worse than Izturis, can he? Maybe he brings a spark that ignites something, maybe not. But why not try?

[monty57]

I'm all for it, but I don't think trusting rookies over veteran journeymen has been our m.o. ever since we got into "go for it" mode a few seasons ago.

 

Guys like Fiers and Maldonado getting an opportunity and playing well have been little beacons of light in this otherwise dark season. It's too bad that they'll be playing with Bianchi in AAA in a few weeks.

[Funketown]

It should probably be mentioned that he's hitting almost .400 on balls in play. His K-rate is also really high for a guy with an ISO of about .065. I think he could probably outproduce Izturis but I'll stick with Ransom at SS for now.

[BrewersAA]

This thread is convenient because I have texted the booth about whether he will possibly get a look and about how his defense is. neither got answered so i did research myself.... apparently his defense is good, but he has a slightly below average throwing arm. Here is a scouting report I found:

 

Bianchi was the 50th overall pick in the 2005 draft. This is what BA wrote about him.

One area scout said that right now, Bianchi is a better pure player than Virginia shortstop Justin Upton, the No. 1 prospect in this years draft. On the year, Bianchi hit .575-13-37 in just 61 at-bats. His tools dont profile nearly as well as Uptons but hes a true baseball grunt a good, solid offensive shortstop with outstanding instincts who gets the most out of his ability. He runs the 60-yard dash in 6.7 seconds. His hands are quick to the ball and he has a line drive stroke, though limited power potential. He has quick hands for a middle infielder, but lacks the arm strength desired for shortstop and almost certainly will end up at second base. Bianchis stock has risen rapidly this spring to a point where hes a now a third- or fourth-round talent, and he may need to go that high to justify buying him away from a scholarship to North Carolina State.

 

Hope this helps!

[TheCrew07]

Here's the report from 2010 on Bianchi:

If it wasn't for injuries, Bianchi likely would be starting for the Royals, but he has had one completely healthy season in six years of pro ball. His outstanding pro debut in 2005 was cut short by a back injury. A torn labrum in his shoulder caused him to miss almost all of 2006 and part of 2007 before a groin injury sidelined him for part of 2008. He finally got a chance to play a full season in 2009, but tore an elbow ligament in spring training and missed all of 2010. Bianchi's short swing gives him a chance to be a solid hitter, though he won't for much power and never has walked much. Like Christian Colon, he doesn't have exceptional range, but he has excellent fundamentals that allow him to be an average shortstop and he makes few errors. Bianchi's arm was slightly above average before his latest injury. He's following in Mike Aviles' footsteps in returning from Tommy John surgery, which suggests it may be midway through this season before Bianchi fully feels comfortable at the plate and in the field. He'll head to Triple-A and hope to stay healthy.

[logan82]

Why throw good money after bad? Izturis is a sunk cost, Bianchi isn't the difference between missing and making the playoffs. Let him play in AAA.

[markedman5]

Justin Upton was a shortstop?

[FVBrewerFan]

Nothing to lose by bringing him up to see if his bat and/or glove play at the MLB level. Having Izturis play does nothing to help this team this year, let alone next year. He's my 4th choice at SS right now.

 

We should see Bianchi and Ransom at SS, Green should be getting way more playing time too. I wouldn't even be opposed to having Maysonet come back up again. They need to figure out which of these guys can hit at the MLB level, what positions they can play defensively, etc. You would think that would help them identify who could be the UT next year, who can play SS, or even who can play 2B or 3B if a trade is made.

 

It won't give you all the answers, but playing Izturis gives you zero answers. (Other than the answer to the question "How can you make the SS position even worse than Yuni?")

[Madtown343]

What good would having Maysonet up and playing do? He is not young, and not part of any teams future. Bianchi on the other hand should get an extended look by the end of the year to see if he can be a possibility for 2013 as a role player or even as the starter.

[Outlander]

Why throw good money after bad? Izturis is a sunk cost, Bianchi isn't the difference between missing and making the playoffs. Let him play in AAA.

 

Yes, Izturis is a sunk cost and therefore they should not hesitate to dump him and bring up the young shortstop.

[FVBrewerFan]

I said I wouldn't be opposed to having Maysonet up. If, for example, Ramirez, Weeks, etc. were traded. I would DFA Itzturis yesterday and bring up Bianchi. But I wouldn't mind seeing more of Maysonet either if another IF is needed at some point. What I've seen so far, having him as the UT next year wouldn't be the worst thing. You would like to have a better bat off the bench, but I liked his approach at the plate. If he can play SS/2B/3B off the bench, hit .225- .230ish and his salary is almost nothing, it's an option for next year at least.

[3and2Fastball]

The concern with Bianchi is his defense, which apparently he is improving on but still not MLB ready yet. He's always been able to hit

 

Are you just speculating or do you know this to be true?.

 

I've only personally seen him play once, and that was in a minor league game before his injury. I'm basing what I wrote about his "defense being a work in progress" based on numerous reports I've read about about him. A buddy of mine who lives in Nashville and goes to lots of Sounds games says that Bianchi's defense seems to be getting better and that he is a player who is easy to root for (great attitude, hustles, works hard, accommodating to fans etc)

[logan82]

Why throw good money after bad? Izturis is a sunk cost, Bianchi isn't the difference between missing and making the playoffs. Let him play in AAA.

 

Yes, Izturis is a sunk cost and therefore they should not hesitate to dump him and bring up the young shortstop.

and spend more money. Seems like a waste to me.

[jwill535]

Its only going to cost about 90-125 for the rest of the season to have him up, which is about a games worth of parking, so why not.

 

You bring him up now, give him extended playing time to see if he can hack it. If he can, he could be a solid back up or starter next year and that would alleviate that necessity is trade talks or FA. Similar to MM being brought up and has proven to be a plus back up if not starter. Granted he was hurt, but the production you are getting now might as well be from hurt players.

 

Ransom is decent, but he isnt long term. Unless the Reds plane goes down at some point this year, this is a lost season. Start playing the younger guys and see what you have. Whats the worst that can happen, he sucks and you have to play Ransom more and still are in need of a SS next year. Who cares, they are there now.

[logan82]

Its only going to cost about 90-125 for the rest of the season to have him up, which is about a games worth of parking, so why not.

I thought we had established long ago that the Brewers do not get much if any money from the parking.

[Raw Biz]

Its only going to cost about 90-125 for the rest of the season to have him up, which is about a games worth of parking, so why not.

I thought we had established long ago that the Brewers do not get much if any money from the parking.

 

Who cares where the money comes from? Are you really that opposed to calling a guy up because he will cost an extra $125k?

[Dollarbill13]

I'd much rather have them spend the $125K on paying off one lucky fan's student loans