Yuniesky Betancourt: What value does he bring to the team? (part 2)

[GB12]

I agree and I hate Betancourt, Id rather have a Counsell/Wilson platoon, but my point was that every team has guys who suck just like us and Im just happy we can rip on Betancourt while being 8 games over .500 and our rotation looks great.

This. People act like the addition of Reyes would make a CC like impact when that's highly doubtful even though he's having a career year, at least offensively(and it's not even really close - in a contract season)- defensively, at least by looking at the stats, he's been roughly the same as Betancourt.

A lineup of:

Reyes

Hart

Braun

Fielder

Weeks

Lucroy

McGehee

Morgan

Along with Grienke/Marcum/Gallardo sure looks like a World Series team to me.

Now I don't think there's any chance we get him, and it's probably not wise to give up to prospects necessary to do so, but I think that's a move that could put us over the top.

 

[bobskube]

This would be ideal but no way we can get Reyes. Prospects are all gone. Mets would be better getting draft picks than the guys we can offer.

[Baldkin]

Betancourt has been about as bad as the worst expectations. I don't think anyone can honestly say, at this point, that the concern over him prior to the season was just sensationalism.

 

I'm a pretty patient guy. It takes months to show real capabilities in baseball not weeks. Even I think he has had enough time to show he is capable. I thought he should be given a shot since I believe he was forced on us but that time has come and gone.

Why did you think he would magically transition into a valuable player after what he did the previous 4 seasons?

[fondybrewfan]

Betancourt wasn't this bad last year; he had a very respectable OPS for a SS and had a lifetime OPS approaching .700. I don't think anyone was anticipating YUni to fall off the cliff like the has. He is having his worst season as a pro.

 

That being said; just dump the guy and get it over with; I am ready to move on. The guy has walked exactly twice since May 22nd and I believe he has been intentionally walked during that span. He single handedly allows opposing pitchers to stay in the game longer due to his complete lack of plate decipline. If you are going to swing at the first pitch at least swing hard; he swings like he doesn't quite want too but has a reputation to live up to.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Betancourt wasn't this bad last year; he had a very respectable OPS for a SS and had a lifetime OPS approaching .700. I don't think anyone was anticipating YUni to fall off the cliff like the has. He is having his worst season as a pro.

 

That being said; just dump the guy and get it over with; I am ready to move on. The guy has walked exactly twice since May 22nd and I believe he has been intentionally walked during that span. He single handedly allows opposing pitchers to stay in the game longer due to his complete lack of plate decipline. If you are going to swing at the first pitch at least swing hard; he swings like he doesn't quite want too but has a reputation to live up to.

Well, he's been quoted as saying that Latin players, in general, don't walk a lot because they have limited options to get noticed by scouts, and 'you don't get to the majors by walking'. Now that might have some kernel of truth to it, but you still have to have plate discipline, even if you don't walk a lot, and he has none whatsoever to speak of.

[TheCrew]

Time to try something else out there - we know what we have in Counsell, so I'd rather give a few unknown guys a shot and if all else fails platoon the two of them with Wilson also getting some time vs righties...... maybe trade for a has been prospect, something needs to be done at this point because Betancourt has been terrible at the plate. Even I can't find a silver lining at this point...........

[JoeHova]

Well, he's been quoted as saying that Latin players, in general, don't walk a lot because they have limited options to get noticed by scouts, and 'you don't get to the majors by walking'.

What's his excuse for not being able to hit or field?

[Raw Biz]

TheCrew]Time to try something else out there - we know what we have in Counsell, so I'd rather give a few unknown guys a shot and if all else fails platoon the two of them with Wilson also getting some time vs righties...... maybe trade for a has been prospect, something needs to be done at this point because Betancourt has been terrible at the plate. Even I can't find a silver lining at this point...........

I would've liked to have taken a flier on Brandon Wood. He's not doing that much better than Yuni but he's a few years younger and probably plays better defense, though I can't confirm that. At the time, he could've filled Josh Wilson's spot as the utility IF but Melvin said they already had one in Counsell. Then a couple of weeks later he picked up Wilson.

[Schlitz001]

I don't know what value Josh Wilson brings at SS, but it can't possibly be that much worse than what Betancourt is providing. The Brewers need to reduce Yuni's role as a starter on this team.

[paul253]

Yuniesky Betancourt is literally the worst hitting major league regular I have ever seen. The guy is absolutely worthless. Calling him a terrible situational hitter would be a compliment. His approach never changes, which I guess would be fine if he actually could hit. But for someone who is so bad at hitting as he is, you'd think he'd actually concentrate on advancing runners or driving in runners who are on third base with less than two outs. But nope, not Yuniesky. I would rather see Josh Wilson play every single day because at least he brings good defense (or so I hear). I've had it with Betancourt. What Melvin was thinking by having him included in the trade with KC I have no idea.

[bucksman4]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/123865639.html

 

Apparently, Yuni B does not like being told when to take or when to swing.

 

Because GREAT hitters like him know what they're doing up there...

[xisxisxis]

From the blob posting:

 

 

Roenicke did say he needs to start getting more production out  of the bottom of the lineup, including catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who has falled off offensively the last couple of weeks.

 

 

So RR is ok with Yuni and casey, but lucroy isn't doing his job. Game, Set, and Match! He's a moron......

[Team Canada]

On the Brewers site earlier there was a short article titled "Swinging away key to Betancourt's success." I see that it's now been retitled "Brewers letting Yuni be Yuni." Which is too bad, because that would easily be the most unintentionally hilarious headline of the year.

 

LINK

[DuWayne Steurer]

Even in a 2 hit game, Betencourt finds a way to sabotage the offense. Bases loaded, one out. Infield pop up on the 2nd pitch, which was low and away, and a pitch that nobody aside from Vlad Guerrero's going to hit with any authority. Absolutely clueless at the plate. I'ts mid-June now, there needs to be a SS solution on the horizon here.

[jason21nl]

The fact that they are aren't trying to change anything with Betancourt's swing makes me think that the whole damn staff needs to go.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The fact that they are aren't trying to change anything with Betancourt's swing makes me think that the whole damn staff needs to go.

That is a bothersome fact, isn't it?

 

Coupled with Wolf's insistence on not throwing a ball to Lucroy, there seems to be a fair amount of pandering, results be damned, going on in this club right now.

[monty57]

The blog mentioned that "it caused problems" with Yuni in Seattle when the staff tried to get him to lay off the first pitch. That problem would be easily solved by platooning Wilson and Counsell with Yuni on the bench. As long as he keeps getting trotted out there nearly every day, he is not going to listen to anything the coaching staff tells him.

[Raw Biz]

The blog mentioned that "it caused problems" with Yuni in Seattle when the staff tried to get him to lay off the first pitch. That problem would be easily solved by platooning Wilson and Counsell with Yuni on the bench. As long as he keeps getting trotted out there nearly every day, he is not going to listen to anything the coaching staff tells him.

This is exactly my thinking. Bench him if he doesn't want to listen. A platoon of Wilson/Counsell couldn't do much worse. Maybe after some time on the bench and not playing, he'll change his approach. Probably not though.

[jmeks23]

It just seems like everytime there's a runner in scoring position he hits an easy pop up. All in all I think right now Betancourt's near 5 Mil contract is playing right now. Couple that with the fact they have no internal solution at SS, and Betancourt really can't play any other position (can barely play SS anyways) and you get him starting almost every day. I don't agree with it either, and Wilson/Counsell have shown A LOT better AB's then Yuni, mixed with arguably better defense. Hopefully they trade for Hardy or Jack Wilson. They'd probably have to give up Eric Farris for Wilson though, so idk if that's really a better option.

[markedman5]

Yuni don't play that game....Yuni hacks on 0-0!

[cwolf2012]

"Wilson/Counsell have shown A LOT better AB's then Yuni, mixed with arguably better defense"

 

Counsell is without a doubt, 100% guaranteed, a better defender than Yuni, jmeks. Wilson is probably a better defender, but is by no means good.

[gregmag]

What's interesting about Yuni is his use as negative-value trade bait. The Royals made us take him with Greinke; everybody here who wants to trade for a ss wouldn't package prospects without Yuni. Yes, I know that on either end part of the issue is "getting a shortstop back," but Yuni's presence is what makes the teams that have him fixate on trading for a ss in the first place. So he needs an appropriate nickname. I thought about "poison pill," "medicine," "spinach," or "deadweight." But after minutes of intense thought, I propose "loss leader." It just has such a great double resonance.

[Funketown]

What's interesting about Yuni is his use as negative-value trade bait. The Royals made us take him with Greinke; everybody here who wants to trade for a ss wouldn't package prospects without Yuni. Yes, I know that on either end part of the issue is "getting a shortstop back," but Yuni's presence is what makes the teams that have him fixate on trading for a ss in the first place. So he needs an appropriate nickname. I thought about "poison pill," "medicine," "spinach," or "deadweight." But after minutes of intense thought, I propose "loss leader." It just has such a great double resonance.

How about "The Pewter Lining"? I guess Pewter isn't necessarily a bad thing, so perhaps "The Sewage Lining", but that doesn't really make one think "silver lining". "The Sulfur Lining". There, I think that works.

[fondybrewfan]

I know Alcides still probably won't ever be a good offensive SS but he has had a pretty strong June so far with a ton of multi hit games. Still no power to speak of though

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

http://www.fangraphs.com/...l-players-playoff-teams/

 

Interesting article on below replacement level players on playoff teams highlighting our boy Yuni. They even give Kotsay some "love" for being below replacement...6 years ago! Seriously, this madness needs to end. If we wind up 1-2 games out of a playoff spot, you can point to Yuni.