Bianchi in 2013

[monty57]

You have to wonder how this will play out. Weeks looks so bad that virtually anyone would seem to be a better option right now, but we owe Weeks a lot of money, and the only way we get any return from that money is by playing him.

 

The reason Weeks has not been permanently benched has as much to do with WHY he is being paid as much money as he his. There are too many baseball fans who think that all a replacement for Weeks has to do is match his (poor this year) defense and hit better than .168/.283/.268 to justify the move. Unsurprisingly, those are the same fans that are going to constantly demand established players be benched for utility players (an epidemic among MLB fans).

 

Weeks' updated ZiPS projection is .237/.333/.413/.746. We can certainly debate about how "right" that is but everyone should recognize that just like last year, we shouldn't expect Weeks to continue hitting terribly. Now if someone think Bianchi's projected offense and defense projects better than a reasonable projection for Weeks, so be it. I would strongly disagree but at least the question is being framed correctly.

 

Actually, this is what I was thinking when I said "seem to be" instead of "would be." Weeks still has talent, and should start playing better at some point. The Brewers have the 2nd worst record in the National League, only bested (worsted?) by the lowly Marlins who are running a AA team out there every day. It's not like a win or two will get us to the playoffs, so as hard as it is to stomach, I think Weeks should continue to see a lot of playing time. Hopefully, he can get hot enough that we will be able to get some other team to take his salary off our hands.

 

Weeks is the poster child for why I don't like waiting until a player is near the end of arby before offering an extension. His early injuries and inconsistencies are the reason he wasn't extended when he was in pre-arby. The extension he eventually signed really didn't give much discount from a free agency deal. When the injuries and inconsistencies continued after he signed the extension, people act surprised. He is exactly what he's always been, someone who looks really good for long stretches and really bad for long stretches. He's now likely in the decline, so I expect the bad stretches to outweigh the good, but all-in-all, Melvin should've just realized that there was a reason he didn't extend him early. I'd like to think he'd learn from his mistakes, but I don't think that's the case.