First Base 2014

[SRB]

A 100 OPS+ is literally average.

 

100 OPS+ plus -40 UZR defender =/= average

[Oldcity]

I still want him on the team, I just wouldn't give up anyone like Fiers to take on his contract.

 

How much value do you think Fiers has at this point? If the offer is Fiers for Dunn, the White Sox are the ones saying no, not the Brewers.

[LouisEly]

The value of a switch hitter like Morales at 1B is that it allows the Brewers to dump both Overbay and Reynolds, freeing up an extra roster spot and allowing the Brewers to keep Wang stashed away in the bullpen for the year.

 

That being said, LO and MR are playing very well so far and the better solution is probably to release Weeks once Segura and Ramirez are both ready to go.

[JohnBriggs12]

I still want him on the team, I just wouldn't give up anyone like Fiers to take on his contract.

 

How much value do you think Fiers has at this point? If the offer is Fiers for Dunn, the White Sox are the ones saying no, not the Brewers.

 

White Sox would make that deal in a heartbeat. Dunn is untradeable. It's that simple. Yeah Dunn had a good April, but no White Sox fan I know trusts him and I know a lot of them including my brother. Freeing Dunn's contract would open up opportunities for them to get help elsewhere. Fiers is a far superior option to the guys they have used in the back end of their rotation. They'd a have a bit of a hole at DH but they could fill that with Konerko or Keppinger who's currently on the DL or could sign Morales themselves.

 

I have no idea what the Brewers would do with Dunn. Reynolds provides virtually the same bat and better defense.

[SRB]

I still want him on the team, I just wouldn't give up anyone like Fiers to take on his contract.

 

How much value do you think Fiers has at this point? If the offer is Fiers for Dunn, the White Sox are the ones saying no, not the Brewers.

 

Fiers should have a lot of value. He had three bad starts in the MLB and now he is valueless? He has had success against MLB hitting and is currently pitching like a machine at AAA: 5 GS, 5 W, 33.2 IP, 0.80 ERA, 0.653 WHIP, 12.6 K/9, 0.8 BB/9

 

He should be next in line to take a spot in the Brewers MLB rotation, and to me he's not that different than Marco Estrada. Only with more years of team control.

 

Dunn is a semi-untradeable albatross.

[djoctagone]

what other teams might be interested in signing morales post-draft?

[JohnBriggs12]

what other teams might be interested in signing morales post-draft?

 

Angels seem to be the most logical one out there that could drive up the price. A's have a need at DH but questionable means and can the Yankees be ruled out?

[SRB]

what other teams might be interested in signing morales post-draft?

 

Angels seem to be the most logical one out there that could drive up the price. A's have a need at DH but questionable means and can the Yankees be ruled out?

C.J. Cron has been hitting well for the Angels and the A's just traded for Kyle Blanks who will be getting playing time at 1B/DH. Seems like the main competition will be between Milwaukee and Baltimore (if Melvin even wants Morales). Baltimore might be extra motivated to sign a DH if Matt Wieters gets TJ surgery and is out for the year. Maybe Texas could swoop in for an upgrade at DH?

[JackNicholson1974]

I am a big Doug Melvin supporter and apologist, but his inability to solve the 1b problem is very irritating. We suffered through a historically bad year at 1b with guys like Halton, Maldanado, Yuni B, Blake Lalli, Alex Gonzalez and Juan Francisco. Lucroy played there some, but removing him from behind the dish makes him far, far less valuable and frankly I see no difference between Maldanado playing 1b or C with Lucroy is also in lineup at he other position.

 

Now we are back facing the EXACT same problems at the EXACT same position the very next year. We have Overbay on the team but he cant even get starts over Lucroy right now. I dont claim to offer solutions, but I think we can all agree that there is a problem that needs to be fixed and it needs to happen soon.

[TURBO]

38 pages of spinning wheels...

[JohnBriggs12]

I am a big Doug Melvin supporter and apologist, but his inability to solve the 1b problem is very irritating. We suffered through a historically bad year at 1b with guys like Halton, Maldanado, Yuni B, Blake Lalli, Alex Gonzalez and Juan Francisco. Lucroy played there some, but removing him from behind the dish makes him far, far less valuable and frankly I see no difference between Maldanado playing 1b or C with Lucroy is also in lineup at he other position.

 

Now we are back facing the EXACT same problems at the EXACT same position the very next year. We have Overbay on the team but he cant even get starts over Lucroy right now. I dont claim to offer solutions, but I think we can all agree that there is a problem that needs to be fixed and it needs to happen soon.

 

 

I posted on here before last season was over that the two guys they should pursue were Morneau (.327/.355/.585 with Rockies) or Morse (.277/.329/.534 with Giants). Morse signed for a modest $6 million one year deal. Morneau signed for two years $12.5 million. Talk about bargains! Before someone screams Coors Field, Morneau's road splits are .300/.321/.538. Now I don't recall much outcry when Melvin passed them over but I was puzzled. Why?? I realize neither were coming off great seasons, but I just couldn't get those times out of my head when these guys faced Brewer pitchers with game on the line. They were and still are two of the most feared hitters in the game, and they were on sale at bargain basement rates. Opportunities lost.

[brwrsfan]

I think at the time most just assumed that Hart was going to return - mainly because Hart stated he wanted to do so if we were interested...then he bolted (though he's not exactly ripping the cover off the ball right now either).

 

Once he left, yeah, we were screwed. Melvin seemingly had no real backup plan. The annoying part is that we're still sitting here near the end of May and haven't done anything about it. Reynolds and Overbay have both been about as we expected - BAD. Reynolds has some value with his power and ability to play third (actually played it well so far), while Overbay is getting benched in favor of Lucroy. Why bother keeping him then??? Why not let Green or Morris come up and see what happens? It's not like they'll do any worse.

 

I really wonder about Morales - doesn't seem like we're overly interested but I sure hope so.

[monty57]

Why bother keeping him then?

 

Good question. He looked better pitching than he's looked hitting this year. Unfortunately, we don't have much on the farm with which to replace him. Green should be called up to see if he can do anything before his deadline hits and we lose him anyway.

 

I really wonder about Morales - doesn't seem like we're overly interested but I sure hope so.

 

I think Morales has to be on the Brewers' radar, as they don't have any answers at either corner IF position beyond this year (it may be premature to completely count out Ramirez for next year, but he's not giving the Brewers any reason to exercise his option). Morales is looked at glowingly when we're sitting with what we've got, but he is not without his own warts. He will be 31 in a few weeks, and even including his one outlier year where he hit for a .924 OPS, his career OPS is still only .813. He hasn't hit above an .800 OPS since his freak injury in the HR celebration. Finally, he's really best suited for DH, so we'd once again get into the situation of fielding a 1B who would guarantee a lot more errors for the rest of the infield.

 

Morales will probably demand a 3-4 year deal at eight figures per year. For this guaranteed money, we could probably expect a high-.700's to low-.800's OPS and bad defense. Almost anything is better than what we've seen this year and last, but is it worth signing that guaranteed contract through his mid-30's? Being in a playoff hunt, I'd bet that the Brewers will get into the bidding war, but I don't think he'll live up to the contract he'll sign.

[SRB]

To Melvin's credit, he did try to sign Jose Abreu for $60M.

[TooLiveBrew]

Why bother keeping him then?

 

Good question. He looked better pitching than he's looked hitting this year. Unfortunately, we don't have much on the farm with which to replace him. Green should be called up to see if he can do anything before his deadline hits and we lose him anyway.

 

I really wonder about Morales - doesn't seem like we're overly interested but I sure hope so.

 

I think Morales has to be on the Brewers' radar, as they don't have any answers at either corner IF position beyond this year (it may be premature to completely count out Ramirez for next year, but he's not giving the Brewers any reason to exercise his option). Morales is looked at glowingly when we're sitting with what we've got, but he is not without his own warts. He will be 31 in a few weeks, and even including his one outlier year where he hit for a .924 OPS, his career OPS is still only .813. He hasn't hit above an .800 OPS since his freak injury in the HR celebration. Finally, he's really best suited for DH, so we'd once again get into the situation of fielding a 1B who would guarantee a lot more errors for the rest of the infield.

 

Morales will probably demand a 3-4 year deal at eight figures per year. For this guaranteed money, we could probably expect a high-.700's to low-.800's OPS and bad defense. Almost anything is better than what we've seen this year and last, but is it worth signing that guaranteed contract through his mid-30's? Being in a playoff hunt, I'd bet that the Brewers will get into the bidding war, but I don't think he'll live up to the contract he'll sign.

No one on the farm who could outperform a mid-.500s OPS? Morris could easily do that & be the LH-hitting half of a 1B platoon... heck, Sean Halton would most likely do better than a .600 OPS even just against RHP. Taylor Green would likely outhit Overbay, & provide another option at 3B.

 

I agree with your assessment of Morales; he's only been a high-.700s OPS bat the past couple seasons, including his splits v. RHP. Add in that he's not a strong defender & honestly I want no part of guaranteeing him millions of dollars, either. Just give Morris a shot for the PAs v. RHP at 1B until Ramirez is back. And then once Aramis is back, stick with Reynolds at 3B & play Aramis at 1B. Then Morris can spell Reynolds some games against RHPs (& allow Ramirez to slide back to 3B occasionally) & be an actual power LH bat off the bench when he isn't starting.

 

Or go with the Doug Melvin plan, & just continue to accept complete offensive failure from Overbay.

[LouisEly]

Would Todd Helton have any interest in coming out of retirement to play for a first-place team? Yeah, he was only .735 OPS vs. RHP last year but that's a heck of a lot better than Overbay is doing.

 

Perhaps the Brewers can deal from their pitching depth and make a Garza for Swisher trade with the Indians. Salaries are reasonably close, Swisher makes more but is on the hook for only two more years. Speaking of the Indians, Carlos Santana would be a great pickup but probably would cost too much in terms of prospects, however I might be willing to deal any prospect not named Nelson for him. Wonder if Fiers + Jungmann + Haniger would get it done.

 

James Loney is looking pretty good now. Speaking of the Rays, Ben Zobrist is in the last guaranteed year of his deal w/only a $7.5M team option and $500K buyout for 2015. He's played all over the diamond, I don't see why he wouldn't be at least average at 1B and he's played enough SS that he should be serviceable at 3B too. That could allow them to get rid of both Overbay and Reynolds and keep Wang a little longer. Not sure how long it takes to heal from a dislocated thumb though, as he went on the DL five days ago.

[monty57]

No one on the farm who could outperform a mid-.500s OPS? Morris could easily do that & be the LH-hitting half of a 1B platoon... heck, Sean Halton would most likely do better than a .600 OPS even just against RHP. Taylor Green would likely outhit Overbay, & provide another option at 3B.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean "no one who could outproduce Overbay," I meant "no one who is good." I guess "better than terrible" is what we're shooting for right now, and we could probably shuffle guys around to find that. As I mentioned, I'd give Green a shot, as (I believe) he's going to become a free agent if he's not called up soon, he can play 1B, 2B and 3B, and he's at that point that he needs to either sink or swim at the MLB level or simply be put out to pasture. I've wanted to give him a shot for years, so hopefully he gets it and does well.

[TooLiveBrew]

No one on the farm who could outperform a mid-.500s OPS? Morris could easily do that & be the LH-hitting half of a 1B platoon... heck, Sean Halton would most likely do better than a .600 OPS even just against RHP. Taylor Green would likely outhit Overbay, & provide another option at 3B.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean "no one who could outproduce Overbay," I meant "no one who is good." I guess "better than terrible" is what we're shooting for right now, and we could probably shuffle guys around to find that. As I mentioned, I'd give Green a shot, as (I believe) he's going to become a free agent if he's not called up soon, he can play 1B, 2B and 3B, and he's at that point that he needs to either sink or swim at the MLB level or simply be put out to pasture. I've wanted to give him a shot for years, so hopefully he gets it and does well.

Gotcha. Yeah, I guess I'd like to see Green up as well, but it's probably clear that I want to see Morris up asap as well. You could ship out Herrera & Overbay to make room (I'd keep Bianchi for his glove).

[brewmann04]

anyone is going to be better than Overbay at this point he just plain bad.

[JohnBriggs12]

Heyman is reporting that Brewers have had scouts watching Morales work out at something called the Scott Boras Training Institute in Miami. Wouldn't Boras be better off having Morales sign with an indy league team and play his way into game shape there? Does Boras pay out of job ex minor league guys to pitch to his clients?

[PrinceEatMeat]

A Morales signing after the draft seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. Boras will talk Attanasio into it, and it'll be hard to say no given how horrible Overbay has been. Reynolds can still play 1B vs. LHP and backup 3B.

[igor67]

Well at minimum wage and all of the commission he has earned over the years I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard for him to field a team of guys.

[monty57]

the Scott Boras Training Institute

 

I'm sure Attanasio has season tickets :-)

 

Wouldn't Boras be better off having Morales sign with an indy league team and play his way into game shape there?

 

Boras is best off getting his clients the highest paycheck immediately. Boras' clients aren't always best off with the way he works, but Boras is all about getting the most money possible.

[Warning Track Power]

A Morales signing after the draft seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. Boras will talk Attanasio into it, and it'll be hard to say no given how horrible Overbay has been. Reynolds can still play 1B vs. LHP and backup 3B.

Agreed. It will be interesting if the deal is for the rest of the season or if it will be a multi-year contract. Not sure I have strong feelings either way.

[nate82]

I am fairly certain that the Brewers will sign Morales to play 1b for this season only. The corresponding move to free up a roster spot will be Overbay being DFA. If the Brewers are not able to sign Morales plan B is to bring up Taylor Green first and play him at 1B or 3B when Ramirez needs a day off. Plan C if it gets to that is to stay with Reynolds and Overbay at 1B.

 

I do not see the Brewers trading for a 1B it is Morales or an internal option at this point for the Brewers.