First Base in 2014

[RobertR]

Easily the biggest issue with the offense with a .202/.254/.364 line to date. Awful. Historically awful.

 

So, what's the solution? Hart on a one year deal? Hunter Morris? Halton? Free agent? Trade?

 

One thing I'd suggest for sure. Brewers management should give first base gloves to Gindl and Davis and tell them that if they want regular playing time in 2014, they better work on their position flexibility in the off season.

[TooLiveBrew]

Gindl & Davis are so short that I don't want to see either one at 1B except in cases of emergency.

 

Best solution for 1B in 2014 imo is Morris, with Halton there to platoon (straight or 'soft'). Time to let Corey walk, as much as I love the guy. Francisco is a guy I'd keep as a 1B/3B backup & power PH option. If a decent trade for Aramis came along, I guess I'd just bite the bullet & run Francisco out there at 3B, since I have a hard time seeing the Brewers contending next season.

[RobertR]

Davis is listed at 5'-11" which seems pretty comparable to Gamel's listed 6'-0", which nobody seems to have a problem with.

 

Yeah, I'd rather have a taller first baseman as well, but as a Plan B or for an occasional spot start, you can do a lot worse. Like Yuni B, for instance. If anything, I think this year shows why having depth at a position matters.

[TooLiveBrew]

Davis is listed at 5'-11" which seems pretty comparable to Gamel's listed 6'-0", which nobody seems to have a problem with.

 

Yeah, I'd rather have a taller first baseman as well, but as a Plan B or for an occasional spot start, you can do a lot worse. Like Yuni B, for instance. If anything, I think this year shows why having depth at a position matters.

Gamel looks the part of a 6'0" guy, and clearly has the wingspan to not be too small a target at 1B. I'm a bit skeptical of Davis actually being 5'11", but he doesn't have long arms & I think that limits his ability to play 1B to very occasional spot-appearances. Morris, Halton, & Francisco are all guys that are ahead of Davis at 1B on my 2014 depth chart; there'd be no reason outside of injuries/emergencies where -- for me -- Davis should be at 1B.

[Bombers]

I would think Braun is an option too. I dont know what to expect from Morris / Gamel. If Hart returns, then ok - stick him there. But a Schafer / Davis combo could make a good left.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'd cross Gamel off the list of possibilities. He hasn't played in 2 years and has a twice operated on knee? I'd also cross off Davis and Gamel. Halton is putting up numbers just as good as those 2 did in AAA and he's familiar with the position. Eventually, Aoki is going to be traded at some point, and I still contend there will be a market for Braun, maybe not this year but certainly next, and Braun is more of a PR nightmare here than he is anywhere.

 

Who ends up at first depends in my mind what they do at 3rd and 2nd. The lineup tilts right handed but if they have a lefty hitter either at 3rd (Green or Francisco) or 2nd (Gennett or someone they deal for), then they can either bring back Hart on a 1 year incentive laden deal, sign a FA like Mike Morse, or go with Halton who needs to see a lot of action in September regardless. Otherwise, they need a lefty bat there, and no not Francisco. I think he's less of a concern defensively at 3B than he is at 1B simply because he's involved in fewer plays at 3B. I'm not big on Morris. He just doesn't seem to be much of an all around hitter. I'd look into FA like Loney or Morneau too.

 

One trade idea: Weeks for Dunn. Despite his HR prowess, Sox are tired of Dunn and Alexei Ramirez. They could move Beckham to SS, and open up a spot for Weeks. A Weeks for Dunn deal would save the Sox $4 million. They need that much and more to induce a team to take Ramirez. Heck the Brewers could even throw in Francisco.

 

I don't think the Brewers are lacking options most of which should result in more typical production from the position. The right side of the infield is the area of focus.

[RobertR]

Davis is listed at 5'-11" which seems pretty comparable to Gamel's listed 6'-0", which nobody seems to have a problem with.

 

Yeah, I'd rather have a taller first baseman as well, but as a Plan B or for an occasional spot start, you can do a lot worse. Like Yuni B, for instance. If anything, I think this year shows why having depth at a position matters.

Gamel looks the part of a 6'0" guy, and clearly has the wingspan to not be too small a target at 1B. I'm a bit skeptical of Davis actually being 5'11", but he doesn't have long arms & I think that limits his ability to play 1B to very occasional spot-appearances. Morris, Halton, & Francisco are all guys that are ahead of Davis at 1B on my 2014 depth chart; there'd be no reason outside of injuries/emergencies where -- for me -- Davis should be at 1B.

 

I'm not convinced that Morris or Halton can hit at the MLB level. Or that Francisco is much of a first baseman offensively or defensively.

 

Which is why I'm open to other guys on the roster getting an opportunity. Heck, I've seen Prince Fielder at the position, my bar is low defensively. And anything that potentially gets Davis more MLB PAs is good for the Brewers long term.

 

Yeah, maybe he can't play the position well enough. But, I'm willing to spend an offseason and spring training finding that out.

[zzzmanwitz]

Cheering and hoping for Gamel.

[dlk9s]

Who is a natural fit at first base.

[igor67]

Frankly if I was either one of Davis or Gindl I'd be getting in early and trying to get infield practice in whether asked to or not. Part of which makes me wonder if the reason the Davis at first experiment ended so fast might be that he just didn't have anything close to the ability to field grounders well. Maybe it makes more sense to try and reverse engineer the answer? Assume that we have room to add 1 position player who will be signable. That would include Hart as your 1 choice. Who is the best player we could reasonably add, and then figure out how you round out the rest of the roster.

[JohnBriggs12]

With all the other options available, why would the Brewers consider moving Gindl or Davis, neither of whom is an established major league hitter, to a position they've never played? That's nearly as silly as the thought they went with during spring of moving Alex Gonzalez over there when he was coming off a major knee injury.

 

Now maybe I could see Aoki moving there. At least we know what he'll give you offensively. But I see a lot of decent, yet still reasonable veteran FA out there that I'd go after first.

[gregmag]

I like the idea of moving Braun to 1b and playing Gindl and Davis in LF. We might as well get something out of Braun's shaming; right now he's in no position to argue, and a shift to 1b might even help with the inevitable "new beginning" meme. Both Davis and Gindl have hit consistently in the minors and are off to good starts in the majors. They deserve a real shot.

[Funketown]

Moving Braun to 1B makes a ton of sense to me. I don't love the idea of Aoki being moved there just because I think his offensive production could be pretty easily replaced by a FA 1B for a pretty reasonable sum with somebody like Morneau or Loney (if you haven't looked at his line recently, he's actually fallen off a bit this season -- something I was unaware of).

 

But if Hart can be had at 1 year + club option for $5-7 million, I think that makes a lot of sense. I'm not sure how healthy Mat Gamel will be, but the odds that both of those guys are lost to season-ending injuries in the same season once again are low. If the team docs think Hart has a good chance of staying healthy over the course of an MLB season, I think that's the route to go.

[SoupTown]

We should put Segura at first or package Weeks and Francisco to get Votto. If the Reds need more we can throw in that new Pope

[reillymcshane]

I like the idea of moving Braun to 1b and playing Gindl and Davis in LF. We might as well get something out of Braun's shaming; right now he's in no position to argue, and a shift to 1b might even help with the inevitable "new beginning" meme. Both Davis and Gindl have hit consistently in the minors and are off to good starts in the majors. They deserve a real shot.

I'm on record to liking Braun at 1B. Keep him healthier

 

I'd then look at a platoon of Gindl/Davis or Schafer/Davis in OF (for the latter platoon, I'd move Aoki to LF when Schafer is playing, because Aoki's mediocre arm plays better in LF. Schafer would be an awesome fielder in RF - better arm and cover more ground than Aoki).

 

Assuming you don't resign Hart, I guess the Braun at 1B idea comes down to the following configuration options:

 

1B: Braun

OF: Gindl or Schafer / Davis platoon

 

OR

 

1B: Morris or Gamel or Francisco (maybe platoon with a right hander - Halton?)

LF: Braun

 

I like Braun at 1B. I love the idea of Schafer getting more playing time. I think his defense is special.

 

Of course, if the team doesn't want Braun at 1B, that negates the entire idea.

[fleehaw]

I'd go with Gamel and Halton (platoon, strict or 'soft'). Morris would be good insurance and it wouldn't hurt him to repeat AAA.

 

The idea is that Gamel reestablishes some value and Morris improves in AAA, making one of the expendable for 2015.

[TooLiveBrew]

Who is a natural fit at first base.

What?

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm not convinced that Morris or Halton can hit at the MLB level. Or that Francisco is much of a first baseman offensively or defensively.

 

Which is why I'm open to other guys on the roster getting an opportunity. Heck, I've seen Prince Fielder at the position, my bar is low defensively. And anything that potentially gets Davis more MLB PAs is good for the Brewers long term.

 

Yeah, maybe he can't play the position well enough. But, I'm willing to spend an offseason and spring training finding that out.

I'm not convinced that Davis can hit well enough to man 1B. I actually have zero doubts about Morris's power -- it's his contact that is a work in progress.

 

Ultimately, I think we agree on Davis -- as a backup-backup option, he could be decent.

[dlk9s]

Who is a natural fit at first base.

What?

Second base, most likely.

[monty57]

Gamel has to prove he's healthy before he gets offered arby, as he'll probably make $1MM even though he's hardly played. Assuming he's healthy and retained, I think he gets first shot at 1B. It'd be easy to hand 1B to Morris, but if he isn't up now, they aren't overly high on him, so he's really going to have to do something before he'll be starting for the Brewers.

 

If Braun gets moved anywhere, I would say it would be to RF if Aoki is traded, opening up LF for Davis, if they want Davis to play over Gindl/Schafer. If they do this, and keep Schafer as the 4th OF, Halton could be a good bench player as a backup 1B/5th OF, pairing him with Francisco for a good LH/RH power tandem off the bench (assuming Ramirez is healthy enough to play every day, so Francisco isn't the everyday 3B).

 

A wildcard is Taylor Green, who plays 1B, 2B and 3B. I prefer him over Francisco, simply based on his defense, but if it comes to defense vs a high-K/high-power guy, the Brewers won't go with the defense.

[TooLiveBrew]

Who is a natural fit at first base.

What?

Second base, most likely.

I don't know.

[thebruce44]

Gamel still has the highest ceiling. Its a lost year, so whats the harm in seeing if he can reestablish himself?

[RightFieldCoder]

I think a lot of people forget how bad Braun was at fielding ground balls. Putting Braun at first would make me wish for Prince's defense back.

[dlk9s]

I don't know.

THIRD BASE!

[RockCoCougars]

Maybe Braun to first base wouldn't be so far fetched... He is going to take heaps of abuse from fans in LF next year. I still think that we may see Ramirez in the mix, but I think the first driving factor is how much (if at all) they want to bring Hart back.

 

BTW, is it me, or have we been talking about Gamel and Green forever? I'm not bagging on them, but I could swear that I read about these guys in What's Brewing. It's not too often that you see one fringe prospect (let alone two) hang around in purgatory with the same organization.