Rickie Weeks

[pacopete4]

I think it is really sad to watch Rickie lately. There just seems to be no life anymore from him. I know he has always been a calm, collected individual and of course when things are not going right its easy to see it more, but he just does not seem to smile or have any fun. He really needs some positive at bats going forward or this thing is really going to tailspin to where he really will be useless and I just do not want to see that. He's a Brewer to the core. Get hot Rickie!

[JohnBriggs12]

To all the Weeks defenders: Do you see him play?? It's not about a slump folks. He's heavy. He's slow. He can't drive in a run to save his life. Occasionally he still runs into one and looks like the old Weeks, but in between it's really hard to watch. What happened to him? Injuries? Complacency? Enjoying the spoils of a nice contract? Or all of the above?

 

Nobody is expecting Scooter Gennett to be the next Charlie Gehringer (now really going old school, but look him up). But Gennett is a baseball player, with baseball instincts. You can just see it from how he handles himself. He's not big and strong so he'll never be a huge HR guy, but watch him swing. He generates pretty decent bat speed so he'll get one now and then and he makes enough contact that he'll likely carry at least a respectable BA. In the field he looks very comfortable too and shows plenty of range. The jury is out on whether he's a long term answer there but short term, he's earned it.

[TURBO]

Looks like Rickie is not happy with things either... Play better man, just play better...

 

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/dcV2C?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=milwaukee-brewers

[TooLiveBrew]

Here are the only actual quotes from Rickie:

 

"It is what it is, I guess," Weeks said Wednesday. "I don't want it like this. I'm just going to hush my mouth about it."

 

...

 

"It has been (difficult)," said Weeks. "But I don't want to say too much about it. I feel good right now (at the plate). It's just that at-bats are kind of far between. You've got to stay aggressive but sometimes it's hard to stay aggressive with one at-bat."

[torts]

move weeks, bring up Velez to platoon with Scooter at 2B and be the 2nd IF guy with Bianchi

[torts]

33 AB Velez is hitting .424/.697/1.197

[pacopete4]

Would you just cut Rickie and pay him to sit home or play on another team? I just can't see Melvin doing that this early in the season. I'm not sure I'd be thrilled paying a guy $10+ mil to not play for our team. Maybe if they could work out a trade, eat some money but get something in return, fine. I just do not see that happening though.

[monty57]

Would you just cut Rickie and pay him to sit home or play on another team? I just can't see Melvin doing that this early in the season. I'm not sure I'd be thrilled paying a guy $10+ mil to not play for our team. Maybe if they could work out a trade, eat some money but get something in return, fine. I just do not see that happening though.

 

They've done it multiple times in the past (I guess that happens when you often sign older players to multi-year deals). I don't think Melvin/Attanasio will hesitate to cut Weeks when and if a better option emerges. It could be argued that some of the AAA utility infielders are better options, but it's not cut and dried. Part of it is probably the fact that, unlike the Hall / Suppan / Wolf situations, Weeks can be hidden as the small side of a platoon where he really doesn't hurt the team that much, and his failings can be brushed off as "it's tough to hit when you don't get much playing time."

 

I have little doubt that the Brewers would dump Weeks immediately if either they got some team to trade him for anything, even salary relief, or they had someone in AAA who was a no-doubt improvement. But could you imagine the vitriol if Weeks gets dumped and some no-name comes up from AAA and stinks?

 

Until (and if) one of those things happen, Weeks will probably continue on in the small role he's given.

[TooLiveBrew]

33 AB Velez is hitting .424/.697/1.197

And over 718 career MLB PAs, his OPS is .654 (w/a .287 OBP). Take out the 13 PAs that led to a 1.021 OPS in his first season, & the career OPS is .647. Even just in Rickie's past two seasons, his OPS is .703 with a .320 OBP.

 

The money owed to Rickie isn't going to get freed up by cutting him, & Velez wouldn't be an upgrade in production. I get the positional flexibility point, but for me that's already covered by Bianchi.

[brewcrewdue80]

Would you just cut Rickie and pay him to sit home or play on another team? I just can't see Melvin doing that this early in the season. I'm not sure I'd be thrilled paying a guy $10+ mil to not play for our team. Maybe if they could work out a trade, eat some money but get something in return, fine. I just do not see that happening though.

 

They've done it multiple times in the past (I guess that happens when you often sign older players to multi-year deals). I don't think Melvin/Attanasio will hesitate to cut Weeks when and if a better option emerges. It could be argued that some of the AAA utility infielders are better options, but it's not cut and dried. Part of it is probably the fact that, unlike the Hall / Suppan / Wolf situations, Weeks can be hidden as the small side of a platoon where he really doesn't hurt the team that much, and his failings can be brushed off as "it's tough to hit when you don't get much playing time."

 

I have little doubt that the Brewers would dump Weeks immediately if either they got some team to trade him for anything, even salary relief, or they had someone in AAA who was a no-doubt improvement. But could you imagine the vitriol if Weeks gets dumped and some no-name comes up from AAA and stinks?

 

Until (and if) one of those things happen, Weeks will probably continue on in the small role he's given.

 

They held on, then waived Wolf August 22nd/Suppan June 7th/ and traded Hall August 19th. So you're talking the 5th payday or after out of 13/14? on the season. So close to 40% of the salary owed for Suppan and 70% for Hall/Wolf.

 

With knowing that history, It's safe to guess Rickie remains on the team for around half the season before a move is made. And at that point he has 5-5.75mil on the books left to be paid to sit at home. Rickie's Paychecks should come out to around 821-885K each And he's either almost at his 2nd paycheck if 13 payperiods or already has it if 14. Leaving Rickie with about 9.7mil left to be paid.

 

Now Suppan's June 7th waive pretty much coincides with about when your Prospect is no longer tied to Super 2 status. To maintain team control for another year it's in a 2week timeframe from now. So It's logical that in 2weeks time to the June 7th-ish Weeks would be waived for a Prospect Callup. But really, aside from Nelson, who's already accrued service time, I don't know what prospect you worry on saving a year of team control.

So that goes back to Weeks likely staying now until the Trade Deadline before being waived like Wolf was.

 

But really, how long does a team go with a sub .400OPS guy? Who to me stays under .600OPS all season long in this role he's in(unless some random 2-4HR stretch very soon propels his OPS to a number that carries him above .600 for awhile) He doesn't have a walk yet, he's the ball hard it seems just once.

 

Let's be honest, Rickie's bat speed in his heyday allowed him to pounce on 93-95MPH FBs that were mistakes for hits. And he'd be able to feast on the FBs thrown 88-91. Now, he can't touch a 93-95MPH FB, and maybe puts the bat on the ball on the 88-90MPH mistakes.

If this were 2010, I think there's enough of those FBs in the 88-90MPH range to keep his head above water. But Baseball's Starting Pitchers are increasingly seeing Power Pitching 93-96MPH FBs being added in their Rotations.

Put it this way via BRef's Splits:

Power pitchers vs Weeks 2013: 91PAs 12/30 BB/K 9hits 6-2bs a .114/.231/.190 slash 22.8%PAs

Power/Finesse 2013: 137PAs 19/36 BB/K 24hits 4-2bs 5HRs a .200/.299/.358 slash 34.3%PAs

Finesse 2013: 171PAs 14/37 BB/K 40hits 10-2bs 1-3bs 5HRs a .265/.351/.444 slash 42.9%PAs

 

Power Pitchers vs. Weeks 2012: 126PA 21/33BB/K 21hits 5-2bs 2HR .204/.349/.311 slash 18.6%PAs

Power/Finesse 2012: 298PA 33/81bb/k 60hits 16-2bs 2-3bs 7Hrs .235/.339/.396 slash 44%PAs

Finesse 2012: 253PA 20/55bb/k 54hits 8-2bs 2-3bs 12HRs .235/.304/.443 slash 37.4%PAs

 

Power Pitchers vs Weeks 2011: 100PA 9/29bb/k 15hits 4-2bs 5HRs .176/.280/.400 slash 19.4%PAs

Power/Finesse 2011: 199PA 26/45bb/k 52hits 12-2bs 1-3b 8HRs .306/.407/.529 slash 38.6%PAs

Finesse 2011: 216PA 15/33bb/k 55hits 10-2bs 1-3b 7HRs .278/.330/.444 42%PAs

 

Power Pitchers vs Weeks 2010: 132PA 18/32bb/k 35hits 4-2bs 2-3bs 4HRs .318/.432/.500 slash! 17.5%PAs

Power/Finesse 2010: 289PA 35/72bb/k 63hits 12-2bs 9HRs .259/.374/.420 slash 38.3%PAs

Finesse 2010: 333PA 23/80bb/k 77hits 16-2bs 2-3bs 16HRs .258/.333/.487 slash 44.2%PAs

 

Weeks' value remaining sits with Finesse pitching. Power pitching his slg/OPS has dropped as you can see. And I put down the pct of PAs he had that season for each type to show how increasingly Power type pitchers are being seen.

 

This is why I can't get on board with the Weeks fanbase on he can turn around closer to his career norms and that alone is better than Gennett. Weeks is weaker vs. Power pitching and he's facing more of those today than in 2010/11. His Bat speed just isn't fast enough anymore. And look at that-2HRs in last 217PAs vs Power pitchers. 13XBH/30hit total in that 217PAs. He barely makes solid contact vs them. He's done, I'm sorry. Only a Finesse Pitcher should Rickie take ABs against.

[torts]

33 AB Velez is hitting .424/.697/1.197

And over 718 career MLB PAs, his OPS is .654 (w/a .287 OBP). Take out the 13 PAs that led to a 1.021 OPS in his first season, & the career OPS is .647. Even just in Rickie's past two seasons, his OPS is .703 with a .320 OBP.

 

The money owed to Rickie isn't going to get freed up by cutting him, & Velez wouldn't be an upgrade in production. I get the positional flexibility point, but for me that's already covered by Bianchi.

 

the money is a non-factor, even trading Weeks they'll have to eat some/most of that contract. so why worry about the contract? Velez went 4/5 last night, up to .474 AVG. yes, maybe his career numbers are not great, but he's got a hot bat, if there was a 40-man spot to give, he should get it (unfortunately thats not going to happen);

[Roderick]

the money is a non-factor, even trading Weeks they'll have to eat some/most of that contract. so why worry about the contract? Velez went 4/5 last night, up to .474 AVG. yes, maybe his career numbers are not great, but he's got a hot bat, if there was a 40-man spot to give, he should get it (unfortunately thats not going to happen);

 

I could see them taking Figaro off the 40 man, but that may be only to put T. Green on it. Velez, I assume matches up with Gennett better being a switch hitter, though I can't see Velez's splits against lefties. Who would be considered the better defensive player - Green or Velez?

[TooLiveBrew]

the money is a non-factor, even trading Weeks they'll have to eat some/most of that contract. so why worry about the contract? Velez went 4/5 last night, up to .474 AVG. yes, maybe his career numbers are not great, but he's got a hot bat, if there was a 40-man spot to give, he should get it (unfortunately thats not going to happen);

 

I could see them taking Figaro off the 40 man, but that may be only to put T. Green on it. Velez, I assume matches up with Gennett better being a switch hitter, though I can't see Velez's splits against lefties. Who would be considered the better defensive player - Green or Velez?

Career .484 OPS in the bigs against lefties.

[JohnBriggs12]

Velez has really torn it up since he came to Nashville, but he's kind of dogged by his 0 for 37 with the Dodgers in 2011. He's hit lefties well in AAA the last couple years. His numbers with the Giants in 08 and 09 were respectable when he was getting fairly regular playing time. They have a logjam at 1B in Nashville, but I'd be tempted to see how he does there too.

 

As for roster spot on the 40 man, isn't it obvious?? He'd get Weeks' spot. As for paying Weeks to sit home, isn't that better than getting negative value out of him on the roster??

[torts]

the money is a non-factor, even trading Weeks they'll have to eat some/most of that contract. so why worry about the contract? Velez went 4/5 last night, up to .474 AVG. yes, maybe his career numbers are not great, but he's got a hot bat, if there was a 40-man spot to give, he should get it (unfortunately thats not going to happen);

 

I could see them taking Figaro off the 40 man, but that may be only to put T. Green on it. Velez, I assume matches up with Gennett better being a switch hitter, though I can't see Velez's splits against lefties. Who would be considered the better defensive player - Green or Velez?

 

Velez plays all over the field, too, so he wouldnt have to be just a platoon guy at 2B. I just think there has to be someone on the team they could remove from the 40-man to give him a shot.

[JohnBriggs12]

What's with the angst over 40 man spots? Weeks and Overbay are both eminently expendable. Hand Velez a 1st baseman's mitt and have him work over there. It's not like they haven't tried guys there before with no experience.

[SRB]

I am quite baffled that there are Brewers fans who think that Eugenio Velez, who hit .000/.075/.000 during his last stint in the majors (40 PA), is a better option than Rickie Weeks. Did Weeks run over your dog or something?

 

The day I see Eugenio Velez make a start at first base (?!?!) is the day I renounce my baseball fandom, sell all my possessions, and move to a mountain somewhere to become a hermit.

[Warning Track Power]

I am quite baffled that there are Brewers fans who think that Eugenio Velez, who hit .000/.075/.000 during his last stint in the majors (40 PA), is a better option than Rickie Weeks. Did Weeks run over your dog or something?

 

The day I see Eugenio Velez make a start at first base(?!?!) is the day I renounce my baseball fandom, sell all my possessions, and move to a mountain somewhere to become a hermit.

 

Not if I beat you to that mountain...

[jerichoholicninja]

I am quite baffled that there are Brewers fans who think that Eugenio Velez, who hit .000/.075/.000 during his last stint in the majors (40 PA), is a better option than Rickie Weeks. Did Weeks run over your dog or something?

 

Velez isn't Weeks, that's all some posters care about.

[TURBO]

I am quite baffled that there are Brewers fans who think that Eugenio Velez, who hit .000/.075/.000 during his last stint in the majors (40 PA), is a better option than Rickie Weeks. Did Weeks run over your dog or something?

 

The day I see Eugenio Velez make a start at first base(?!?!) is the day I renounce my baseball fandom, sell all my possessions, and move to a mountain somewhere to become a hermit.

 

Not if I beat you to that mountain...

 

 

There are plenty of mountains for everyone...

[TooLiveBrew]

http://i.imgur.com/MNyyVv8.jpg

[TURBO]

^ Now that right there is funny!

[reillymcshane]

http://i.imgur.com/MNyyVv8.jpg

Awesome

[James Zumstein]

The Blue Jays are currently using their fifth 2nd Baseman of the season, and have former 1st round pick Anthony Gose splitting time in CF with Colby Rasmus, who is a Free Agent at the end of this year and is making $7M. Their salaries are close enough that the teams should be able to work something out. Maybe Rickie could find something again in the hitter haven that is Skydome, and Rasmus would give us someone who could fill in at all three OF positions, and give us some power off the bench.

[jerichoholicninja]

The Blue Jays are currently using their fifth 2nd Baseman of the season, and have former 1st round pick Anthony Gose splitting time in CF with Colby Rasmus, who is a Free Agent at the end of this year and is making $7M. Their salaries are close enough that the teams should be able to work something out. Maybe Rickie could find something again in the hitter haven that is Skydome, and Rasmus would give us someone who could fill in at all three OF positions, and give us some power off the bench.

 

That would be a pretty bad trade for the Jays. Even only half a season of Rasmus is worth more than Weeks.