Rickie Weeks 2014

[JohnBriggs12]

and up until this point he's been terrible. So bad in fact, that he's hurting the team by taking up a roster spot and costing Gennett playing time and hurting the Brewers. He's has no good scenario unless he starts hitting

 

Let's ease up on the hyperbole here. Despite sporadic playing time Weeks is hitting pretty well. Better than Segura and Davis at least. Gennett is atrocious against left handers, and Weeks isn't hurting us by playing second against lefties. Take a look at what's being run out every night by Toronto, St. Louis, or Atlanta, and you'll see Rickie is still capable of being a starter in this league. Not for 11 million dollars, but if the Brewers cut him loose right now he would quickly have another job in the majors. Gennett still needs a platoon mate, and Weeks is a more valuable bench bat than Schafer or Bianchi, so I don't really see what the rush to get rid of him is. You pay his salary either way. There's not really any situation where it makes sense to play Rickie in the outfield either, so I don't see why everyone is so upset about this. So much irrational hatred of Weeks, not just on this board, but among Brewers fans in general.

 

Davis is hitting .217/.239/.388 and was on the verge of a trip to Nashville to get straightened out though A-Ram's injury might have given him a reprieve. Roenicke wants to get both a recently hot Weeks and Gennett in the lineup at the same time. Most guys would do what they have to to get in the lineup and help the team.

[PrinceFielderx1]

and up until this point he's been terrible. So bad in fact, that he's hurting the team by taking up a roster spot and costing Gennett playing time and hurting the Brewers. He's has no good scenario unless he starts hitting

 

Let's ease up on the hyperbole here. Despite sporadic playing time Weeks is hitting pretty well. Better than Segura and Davis at least. Gennett is atrocious against left handers, and Weeks isn't hurting us by playing second against lefties. Take a look at what's being run out every night by Toronto, St. Louis, or Atlanta, and you'll see Rickie is still capable of being a starter in this league. Not for 11 million dollars, but if the Brewers cut him loose right now he would quickly have another job in the majors. Gennett still needs a platoon mate, and Weeks is a more valuable bench bat than Schafer or Bianchi, so I don't really see what the rush to get rid of him is. You pay his salary either way. There's not really any situation where it makes sense to play Rickie in the outfield either, so I don't see why everyone is so upset about this. So much irrational hatred of Weeks, not just on this board, but among Brewers fans in general.

 

Sometimes you need to look at the stats of the players to truly believe and see what is happening,

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=571697#gameType=%27R%27&sectionType=splitsCareer&statType=1&season=2014&level=%27ALL%27

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=430001#gameType=%27R%27&sectionType=splitsCareer&statType=1&season=2014&level=%27ALL%27

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=516416#gameType=%27R%27

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=501981#gameType=%27R%27

 

Gennett has had only 14 AB vs LHP, which is a very small sample size but has 103 AB (3 times as many as Weeks, fyi) vs RHP and is hitting .301 with a .339 OBP with many XBH and has 2 HR's . Weeks is hitting .217 with a .280 OBP with 0 RBI's vs LHP and is showing zero power by hitting all singles. If anybody has earned the right for a starter position it's Gennett by a mile, and there's a reason why he's getting it. To say Gennett can't hit LHP is premature, but saying Weeks has been terrible and should be off the roster isn't. Answer a question - Why did the Brewers approach Weeks about LF if the platoon was working or worth a further look at 2B?

 

Also, don't look at AVG and OBP after only 128 AB's for Segura and Davis. Look at their RBI's and all of their XBH's. They have shown more production than Weeks has even though they are going through adjustment periods called slumps. The fact that they are showing gap power tells me there's still plenty to be expected out of them. To compare them all to make the point you were making by trying to beef up Weeks is ridiculous.

 

Now I never said Weeks career is over, but it's looks really bad; especially his lack of power and XBH, and it's certainly over with the Brewers, and after watching these numbers I'm thrilled, and have accepted this over coming to this conclusion over a long period of time. He's had his fair shake.

[PrinceFielderx1]

and up until this point he's been terrible. So bad in fact, that he's hurting the team by taking up a roster spot and costing Gennett playing time and hurting the Brewers. He's has no good scenario unless he starts hitting

 

Let's ease up on the hyperbole here. Despite sporadic playing time Weeks is hitting pretty well. Better than Segura and Davis at least. Gennett is atrocious against left handers, and Weeks isn't hurting us by playing second against lefties. Take a look at what's being run out every night by Toronto, St. Louis, or Atlanta, and you'll see Rickie is still capable of being a starter in this league. Not for 11 million dollars, but if the Brewers cut him loose right now he would quickly have another job in the majors. Gennett still needs a platoon mate, and Weeks is a more valuable bench bat than Schafer or Bianchi, so I don't really see what the rush to get rid of him is. You pay his salary either way. There's not really any situation where it makes sense to play Rickie in the outfield either, so I don't see why everyone is so upset about this. So much irrational hatred of Weeks, not just on this board, but among Brewers fans in general.

 

Davis is hitting .217/.239/.388 and was on the verge of a trip to Nashville to get straightened out though A-Ram's injury might have given him a reprieve. Roenicke wants to get both a recently hot Weeks and Gennett in the lineup at the same time. Most guys would do what they have to to get in the lineup and help the team.

 

and Weeks would be in Nashville right now if we had that "option" to work on what's going on with him. For him to go from a huge power threat to a guy that can't square up on a ball and hit it with power is VERY troubling for his career.

[saget]

He just passed 40 ABs... If Rickie hits a few doubles in the next week he'll have a better OPS than Scooter because Scooter can't OBP to save his life.

[PrinceFielderx1]

He just passed 40 ABs... If Rickie hits a few doubles in the next week he'll have a better OPS than Scooter because Scooter can't OBP to save his life.

 

I'll bet you it takes Weeks 2 weeks to hit 2 doubles, and 3 weeks to hit a "few." Only "if" Weeks is still a Brewer.

[JohnBriggs12]

If it took getting Weeks "irked" to get him to hit at a the level he's capable of, then here's to him staying irked.

[joepepsi]

Asking a player to learn a new position during the season is a recipe for failure. Anybody see the Twins ss playing CF a couple games last week? It was pathetic. If they really wanted Rickie to develop more flexibility then it should have started in Spring Training. Or, better yet, last Fall so he could do some workouts over the winter.

[nate82]

There are better options defensively in the OF than Weeks and they are currently on the team in Gindl and Schaefer. Moving Weeks to the OF would not help the team in fact it would hurt the team so that arguement is dead. The only thing that it would help is get Weeks more AB's which I thought the majority did not want?

 

It is better for the team if Weeks stays at 2B.

[Thurston Fluff]

Well, when he negotiated the contract the intent was clearly based on health concerns (i.e. if he was healthy in 2014, he would get the $11 million option). He's healthy, and he's still not getting it. I think there is a legitimate case that Scooter has played Rickie out of a job, but I can still 100% understand why Rickie would be pretty irked.

 

I don't know how clear it was based only on health concerns. He was a very streaky player since he's been here. I'm sure health was a concern but I also think production was at least a partial concern. I certainly don't understand why a person who has been in decline for 4 straight years is irked that he won't get paid like he was still at the top of his game. I think he could have at least shagged a few flyballs in BP to see how it went but he doesn't seem interested in doing so. All that said I do respect the fact he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't seem to be a malcontent.

[torts]

Asking a player to learn a new position during the season is a recipe for failure.

 

[sarcasm]Yuni was pretty good at it last year[/sarcasm]

[joepepsi]

Asking a player to learn a new position during the season is a recipe for failure.

 

[sarcasm]Yuni was pretty good at it last year[/sarcasm]

Exactly! So was JuanFran.

[davego]

Well...RRR did ask him, not tell him to get out there...

[DHonks]

Princefielderx1...rickie does have options remaining, but he has enough service time he could refuse

[HiAndTight]

This was a last ditch effort to give weeks more playing time, because they want to go with Gennett full time. Look for Weeks to be released within a month, and if he starts hitting, then he will be traded by the trade deadline.

 

You tell 'em, buddy!

 

You bet. At this point in Weeks career it would hurt him to play LF and have it not work out defensively or on offense, plus with Davis being a RH batter Weeks wouldn't see much playing time since Davis will eat up the playing time and is more of a long term option. His best hope which is slim is to start hitting while playing 2B even in a platoon. This move has more to do with someone picking him up in FA to play 2B than anything, so he can keep his MLB career alive. It's a smart move he made with his agents advice more than likely. Either way he's going to be gone by mid-season. The Brewers were doing him a favor by platooning him at 2B, so he could get playing time to increase his value, and up until this point he's been terrible. So bad in fact, that he's hurting the team by taking up a roster spot and costing Gennett playing time and hurting the Brewers. He's has no good scenario unless he starts hitting, and no better option than a platoon. However, his time might be up because I think this was the Brewers last move with him, and now he could be released in just a matter of days.

 

 

I can't imagine how at this point in Rickies career, at a time when he's no longer an everyday 2nd basemen, is 31 years old and has struggled badly last year and struggled the year before, that showing he's capable of doing more than just playing a subpar 2nd base and MAYBE being able to hit around league average.

 

Him playing LF might literally be the only thing that actually "keeps his career alive." He plays some LF now, maybe in the future due to the fact that he can play LF, he's an option to play RF. He's still not a "utility," player, but at least there is some value to having him on a team. I can't imagine his agent saying it's a good idea to refuse to move to LF to help out your team so you can get into the lineup and get the playing time to possibly get hot again.

 

The notion that, "well, he might not be good out there and they're going to play Khris Davis anyway," doesn't make sense to me. They asked him BECAUSE Davis wasn't hitting well and was struggling, and if he can't play a passable LF, then what? What's the big downside? You find out that he's exactly who he is right now?

 

And finally, the Brewers aren't in the business of "doing favors." They're playing Rickie Weeks at 2nd base vs lefties because Scooter Gennett is SO incredibly terrible vs left handers that even a struggling Weeks is a better option to play there than Gennett on those days.

[HiAndTight]

There are better options defensively in the OF than Weeks and they are currently on the team in Gindl and Schaefer. Moving Weeks to the OF would not help the team in fact it would hurt the team so that arguement is dead. The only thing that it would help is get Weeks more AB's which I thought the majority did not want?

 

It is better for the team if Weeks stays at 2B.

 

 

This is debatable. Weeks still has the ability IMO to be a very good hitter...if he got regular playing time. I don't know if he would or not, but today, at this very moment, he seems to be a better option than Khris Davis.

 

So lets just take this game vs the Yankees and Phelps. You're down Aram, Braun and Luc has the day off. Gennett has been a pretty good hitter last year and this year(though he's struggling at the moment).

 

Playing Weeks in LF would allow you to get your hot bat in the lineup(yes, it's very sad he's our "hot bat") and Gennett.

 

 

I've lost some respect for Weeks after this. He's always been one of my favorite players. A team leader, a guy who doesn't run his mouth, isn't full of excuses, plays hard, plays hurt. I'm not some pious baseball fan, but by almost any standard, he plays the game the right way. Now he's refusing to try to play LF to help his team. It's baffling.

 

And he could be costing himself 11 million dollars. Unlikely he'd ever get enough AB's, but perhaps he really starts hitting and we see the 2011 Rickie Weeks? Really-Really unlikely, but he's depriving himself of that opportunity at least out of what? Fear he's not good enough? Or being petty and not liking the fact that this young guy is taking his at bats at 2nd base? And you know the guys in the clubhouse like and look up to Weeks, so I'm sure they're on his side(at least partially).

 

I don't see one single positive for either side by him "declining," to try to play LF.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Princefielderx1...rickie does have options remaining, but he has enough service time he could refuse

 

Exactly. They can't demote him. Needed to be done last year.

[torts]

saw the ball pretty well today

[gregmag]

Wow, people are making a lot of assumptions in this discussion based on very little information. Not only do we know that Weeks declined to play LF -- we also know that this reflects a bad attitude, that he's "irked" (it took that fiction like five posts to become a freaking meme), that his refusal to play LF made the team mad enough to leak the story, and that he's about to get traded. Oh, and we also know he can't square up on the ball anymore, even though he 's done exactly that two days running (small sample of course, but enough to disprove a negative). I knew some of the Weeks bashers on this board were reflexive and stubborn. I didn't know they were psychic.

 

Here's my counter-fiction. I don't think Weeks cares much about his option. That ship sailed a long time ago. I think he's a proud, hard-working player whose recent failures, which reflect some combination of skill erosion and injury, have ground him down a lot psychologically. I think -- this one I'm pretty confident about -- that asking a veteran 2b to start playing of in the middle of the season is patently stupid. I think Rickie politely declined the stupid suggestion that he play LF, telling RR either or both of the following: (a) that probably wouldn't work out well for the team; (b) please don't crush what little remains of my confidence by setting me up to fail in a new way. To my mind, those are both perfectly fair responses. I don't know whether any of my counter-fiction is true, but it's a lot more plausible than some of the conjectures and assertions made here.

 

The Weeks-bashing in this thread exemplifies one of the things I hate most about sports fans: too often we give guys who are playing well the benefit of every doubt while beating up in every way on guys who suck. Weeks has sucked for the better part of two years. As soon as we see the wisp of a controversy, we scream that he's a greedy, lazy, stupid bastard. We don't consider the possibility that maybe he's a good guy who has just played like crap or the possibility that maybe there's more to this story than the scrap of information we know about.

 

Anyway, he just played a crucial role in two straight tight wins. Whatever else is or isn't going on, good for him.

[SRB]

Wow, people are making a lot of assumptions in this discussion based on very little information. Not only do we know that Weeks declined to play LF -- we also know that this reflects a bad attitude, that he's "irked" (it took that fiction like five posts to become a freaking meme), that his refusal to play LF made the team mad enough to leak the story, and that he's about to get traded. Oh, and we also know he can't square up on the ball anymore, even though he 's done exactly that two days running (small sample of course, but enough to disprove a negative). I knew some of the Weeks bashers on this board were reflexive and stubborn. I didn't know they were psychic.

 

Here's my counter-fiction. I don't think Weeks cares much about his option. That ship sailed a long time ago. I think he's a proud, hard-working player whose recent failures, which reflect some combination of skill erosion and injury, have ground him down a lot psychologically. I think -- this one I'm pretty confident about -- that asking a veteran 2b to start playing of in the middle of the season is patently stupid. I think Rickie politely declined the stupid suggestion that he play LF, telling RR either or both of the following: (a) that probably wouldn't work out well for the team; (b) please don't crush what little remains of my confidence by setting me up to fail in a new way. To my mind, those are both perfectly fair responses. I don't know whether any of my counter-fiction is true, but it's a lot more plausible than some of the conjectures and assertions made here.

 

The Weeks-bashing in this thread exemplifies one of the things I hate most about sports fans: too often we give guys who are playing well the benefit of every doubt while beating up in every way on guys who suck. Weeks has sucked for the better part of two years. As soon as we see the wisp of a controversy, we scream that he's a greedy, lazy, stupid bastard. We don't consider the possibility that maybe he's a good guy who has just played like crap or the possibility that maybe there's more to this story than the scrap of information we know about.

 

Anyway, he just played a crucial role in two straight tight wins. Whatever else is or isn't going on, good for him.

 

I'm one of the biggest and most consistent Weeks supporters on this board. I fail to see how inferring that he might rightfully be "irked" about the Brewers screwing him out of $11 million is "Weeks-bashing"

[DuWayne Steurer]

Wow, people are making a lot of assumptions in this discussion based on very little information. Not only do we know that Weeks declined to play LF -- we also know that this reflects a bad attitude, that he's "irked" (it took that fiction like five posts to become a freaking meme), that his refusal to play LF made the team mad enough to leak the story, and that he's about to get traded. Oh, and we also know he can't square up on the ball anymore, even though he 's done exactly that two days running (small sample of course, but enough to disprove a negative). I knew some of the Weeks bashers on this board were reflexive and stubborn. I didn't know they were psychic.

 

Here's my counter-fiction. I don't think Weeks cares much about his option. That ship sailed a long time ago. I think he's a proud, hard-working player whose recent failures, which reflect some combination of skill erosion and injury, have ground him down a lot psychologically. I think -- this one I'm pretty confident about -- that asking a veteran 2b to start playing of in the middle of the season is patently stupid. I think Rickie politely declined the stupid suggestion that he play LF, telling RR either or both of the following: (a) that probably wouldn't work out well for the team; (b) please don't crush what little remains of my confidence by setting me up to fail in a new way. To my mind, those are both perfectly fair responses. I don't know whether any of my counter-fiction is true, but it's a lot more plausible than some of the conjectures and assertions made here.

 

The Weeks-bashing in this thread exemplifies one of the things I hate most about sports fans: too often we give guys who are playing well the benefit of every doubt while beating up in every way on guys who suck. Weeks has sucked for the better part of two years. As soon as we see the wisp of a controversy, we scream that he's a greedy, lazy, stupid bastard. We don't consider the possibility that maybe he's a good guy who has just played like crap or the possibility that maybe there's more to this story than the scrap of information we know about.

 

Anyway, he just played a crucial role in two straight tight wins. Whatever else is or isn't going on, good for him.

 

I'm one of the biggest and most consistent Weeks supporters on this board. I fail to see how inferring that he might rightfully be "irked" about the Brewers screwing him out of $11 million is "Weeks-bashing"

 

 

The Brewers didn't 'screw' him out of anything. They are under no contractual obligation to provide him a specific number of at bats. He agreed to the stipulation that vests his 2015 option. If he's not playing good enough to earn playing time, why put him on the field? Yes, he's had a few hits the last few days, and the result is he has raised his OPS over .730, which is almost completely driven by batting average. (same as Scooter Gennett, actually). Given Week's small sample at this point, any hot or cold streak is going to swing his numbers wildly in any direction. An 0-fer in 2 straight days (which he is more than capable of) will drop his OPS back below .700.

 

The larger body of work that he's put forth for the bulk of the last 2 years, aside from these 50 plate appearances is that he's showing eroding skills at the plate.

 

I'm not sold on Gennett (far from it, actually), but Rickie's bad past few years, coupled with his very poor fielding don't show me why the team should feel obligated to play him daily just for the sake of providing him another big payday.

[logan82]

Princefielderx1...rickie does have options remaining, but he has enough service time he could refuse

 

Exactly. They can't demote him. Needed to be done last year.

No, they couldn't demote him after 2010. About halfway through the season. After 5 years you can't send a player down without their agreement. Just ask JJ.

 

 

 

Yes, he's had a few hits the last few days, and the result is he has raised his OPS over .730, which is almost completely driven by batting average.

 

What do you mean it's all BA driven? He has a decent split between BA and OBP.

[SRB]

Wow, people are making a lot of assumptions in this discussion based on very little information. Not only do we know that Weeks declined to play LF -- we also know that this reflects a bad attitude, that he's "irked" (it took that fiction like five posts to become a freaking meme), that his refusal to play LF made the team mad enough to leak the story, and that he's about to get traded. Oh, and we also know he can't square up on the ball anymore, even though he 's done exactly that two days running (small sample of course, but enough to disprove a negative). I knew some of the Weeks bashers on this board were reflexive and stubborn. I didn't know they were psychic.

 

Here's my counter-fiction. I don't think Weeks cares much about his option. That ship sailed a long time ago. I think he's a proud, hard-working player whose recent failures, which reflect some combination of skill erosion and injury, have ground him down a lot psychologically. I think -- this one I'm pretty confident about -- that asking a veteran 2b to start playing of in the middle of the season is patently stupid. I think Rickie politely declined the stupid suggestion that he play LF, telling RR either or both of the following: (a) that probably wouldn't work out well for the team; (b) please don't crush what little remains of my confidence by setting me up to fail in a new way. To my mind, those are both perfectly fair responses. I don't know whether any of my counter-fiction is true, but it's a lot more plausible than some of the conjectures and assertions made here.

 

The Weeks-bashing in this thread exemplifies one of the things I hate most about sports fans: too often we give guys who are playing well the benefit of every doubt while beating up in every way on guys who suck. Weeks has sucked for the better part of two years. As soon as we see the wisp of a controversy, we scream that he's a greedy, lazy, stupid bastard. We don't consider the possibility that maybe he's a good guy who has just played like crap or the possibility that maybe there's more to this story than the scrap of information we know about.

 

Anyway, he just played a crucial role in two straight tight wins. Whatever else is or isn't going on, good for him.

 

I'm one of the biggest and most consistent Weeks supporters on this board. I fail to see how inferring that he might rightfully be "irked" about the Brewers screwing him out of $11 million is "Weeks-bashing"

 

 

The Brewers didn't 'screw' him out of anything. They are under no contractual obligation to provide him a specific number of at bats. He agreed to the stipulation that vests his 2015 option. If he's not playing good enough to earn playing time, why put him on the field? Yes, he's had a few hits the last few days, and the result is he has raised his OPS over .730, which is almost completely driven by batting average. (same as Scooter Gennett, actually). Given Week's small sample at this point, any hot or cold streak is going to swing his numbers wildly in any direction. An 0-fer in 2 straight days (which he is more than capable of) will drop his OPS back below .700.

 

The larger body of work that he's put forth for the bulk of the last 2 years, aside from these 50 plate appearances is that he's showing eroding skills at the plate.

 

I'm not sold on Gennett (far from it, actually), but Rickie's bad past few years, coupled with his very poor fielding don't show me why the team should feel obligated to play him daily just for the sake of providing him another big payday.

 

The purpose of a guaranteed contract in sports is to ensure pay regardless of performance. The reason there are PA-based options is that it is the best objective proxy for health. I never said that the Brewers violated the contract, they didn't. But that doesn't mean Rickie isn't getting screwed. Same as K-Rod a few weeks back when he suddenly became the set-up man.

[DHonks]

I argued in spring training that Weeks needed to play every day to see if he had anything left. Scooter should have been in AAA. But then the Brewers never gave Weeks a start against a righty in April (only tough lefties), and I learned to accept it as Scooter's defense is significantly better. I wish Rickie would return to the OF as a chance to play nearly every day. They could play him deep to protect his reads and the nice thing is that he wouldn't have many groundballs to misplay.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Princefielderx1...rickie does have options remaining, but he has enough service time he could refuse

 

Exactly. They can't demote him. Needed to be done last year.

No, they couldn't demote him after 2010. About halfway through the season. After 5 years you can't send a player down without their agreement. Just ask JJ.

 

 

 

Yes, he's had a few hits the last few days, and the result is he has raised his OPS over .730, which is almost completely driven by batting average.

 

What do you mean it's all BA driven? He has a decent split between BA and OBP.

 

I believe you.

[RobDeer 45]

I'm in the camp that him in the outfield is not a good idea to try mid year. Maybe he pulls it off but that's not an easy transition. I'm still hoping we find someone to trade him too.