Who is the 2014 version of Jerry Hairston?

[Baldkin]

I've been wracking my brain and I'll admit, my non-knowledge of anyone but the Brewers hasn't helped me.

 

I really feel as though that is what the Brewers need on the bench more than anything... someone who can play multiple positions and spell our guys and carry a .750ish OPS.

 

Is that guy out there somewhere? Can he be gotten?

[3and2Fastball]

Ben Zobrist!

[Outlander]

Zobrist and Bonifacio depending on how much a team wants to trade away. Zobrist is having a down year but still would probably take quite a bit and don't know if he would really want a bench role even if he ends up playing almost every day at second, short or corner outfield.

[reillymcshane]

I'd say Bonifacio. He's on a team that stinks, so they don't really need him. He's not in their long term plans. He's not terribly expensive, and probably wouldn't cost a lot in terms of prospects. His ability to play all over the diamond is exactly what the team needs.

 

Zobrist would be great as well, but he's a guy that should be playing every day, makes a lot more money, would cost a lot to acquire, and doesn't have a history of playing SS. The Brewers need a quality backup who can play SS. I don't know if Zobrist is that guy.

[jerichoholicninja]

Bonifacio with the career sub .700 OPS? He's never even put up an OPS over .700 unless you count his half season with KC last year, which was exactly .700. Sure he can play a lot of positions but he can't hit a lick. Might as well keep trotting out Herrera or Bianchi over Emilio.

[3and2Fastball]

Zobrist has over 1500 MLB innings at SS, including 41 innings this season and over 100 in 2013

 

He is a switch-hitter, however he is more effective vs LHP than RHP...but he can play 2B/SS/OF

[Bombers]

Bobby Abreu would be a nice bat off the bench but he is old and can't play the field - so he would truly be a PH option and not much more.

[Warning Track Power]

David DeJesus

 

Apparently Schafer is not going to cut it as a 4th OF and I want no part of Herrera, Falu on the roster period, or the temptation to put Reynolds/Overbay into RF. DeJesus could fill in adequately at all three OF positions for the rest of 2014 and likely be had on the cheap. Ideally, Schafer or Gindl would have been the guy, but it is becoming apparent that these guys, Schafer in particular, are AAAA players...unfortunately.

[JohnBriggs12]

Bonifacio with the career sub .700 OPS? He's never even put up an OPS over .700 unless you count his half season with KC last year, which was exactly .700. Sure he can play a lot of positions but he can't hit a lick. Might as well keep trotting out Herrera or Bianchi over Emilio.

 

You are overlooking his one full year as a regular with the Marlins in 2011 when he hit .296/.360/.393. That adds up to an OPS of .753. He's a .263 lifetime hitter with over 150 career steals. He's got some value. We're talking who is this year's Jerry Hairston. That bar isn't all that high. Hairston was a career .257 hitter with not all that much more power and less of a SB threat.

[JohnBriggs12]

While I'm not as down on Schafer as WTP, I'm on board with Dejesus. He'd be a very handy guy to have to be that fill in guy in the OF. He's owed $6 million after this year. Too bad he's never played 1B. But I think he could be had for a B level prospect like Cravy and or Rogers.

 

A little cheaper version of Dejesus would be Chris Denorfia. He's not a LH hitter, but he does hit well in Miller Park (career .923 OPS there), and can play all 3 OF positions.

[jerichoholicninja]

Bonifacio with the career sub .700 OPS? He's never even put up an OPS over .700 unless you count his half season with KC last year, which was exactly .700. Sure he can play a lot of positions but he can't hit a lick. Might as well keep trotting out Herrera or Bianchi over Emilio.

 

You are overlooking his one full year as a regular with the Marlins in 2011 when he hit .296/.360/.393. That adds up to an OPS of .753. He's a .263 lifetime hitter with over 150 career steals. He's got some value. We're talking who is this year's Jerry Hairston. That bar isn't all that high. Hairston was a career .257 hitter with not all that much more power and less of a SB threat.

 

Correction, he had one so-so year out of his 8 year futile career. [sarcasm]Go get him Doug![/sarcasm]

[RockCoCougars]

Unfortunately, I don't think that there is one. Too bad Hairston couldn't be coaxed out of retirement. I'm pretty confident that he would be a better option even now than Falu, Herrera or Bianchi.

[Cirillos Hot Corner]

Was just talking with someone about this recently. How about Willie Bloomquist?

[jjkoestler]

Martin Prado would be a nice get. His numbers are down this year, but he can play all over the diamond. I don't know the particulars of his contract though.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Martin Prado would be a nice get. His numbers are down this year, but he can play all over the diamond. I don't know the particulars of his contract though.

 

 

The only thing really down is his power numbers. The problem is he's owed 22 million for the next 2 years. (total, not per year, obviously)

[brewcrewdue80]

For OF purposes, I think of Josh Willingham.

For IF purposes the Rockies have two guys they've been swapping at 2b since last season. Josh Rutledge and DJ Lemathieu

Lemathieu is a defensive guy while Rutledge is an Offensive guy. Lemathieu would be the guy I target because of his defensive prowess but he was a .321 hitter in the minors for his career so I believe he can at least come out and maybe hit .250. He's still young at 25 with team control and I'd probably look to trade a RP like Gorzo or Duke for him. If they ask for a little more I'm sure we can part with whatever that minor piece will be.

 

As mentioned Zobrist/Prado are targets too but the cost in price plus Prospects just may not be worth it for either. I wouldn't be surprised if both were commanding Nelson in return in trade. After him, I don't know how well regarded any other of our prospects are. Coulter/Jungmann would be the only two that you can look at via the numbers and suggest being contributors at the Major league level in the near future. Everyone else just aren't making a case to applaud for in trade. Taylor/Haniger/Roache aren't even at .800OPS in the levels they're in. It really looks sad and I am at a point now looking at it that I don't think the Brewers can trade for anybody for improvement right now. You're just not going to trade Nelson when it's likely he's replacing Estrada. The only way we pull off a trade with our prospects is some scout from another team is convinced on one of our maybe average guys to turn in to a Major League Starter. Like say with Willingham, a team shoots for Morris thinking more highly of him to play 1b. The problem there is they bought Morales to DH leaving Mauer to play 1b. Next season then? Yeah with Morales departing I could see that working in idea.

 

 

Really someone following the farm more indepth, who has value in trade for a reliable bench piece after Nelson?

[superfly]

Is Craig Counsell available? I'm kind of in withdrawal from not seeing that godawful swing of his.

 

Also, the Twinkies are right in the Division race (they won't win it), so I don't think they will be trading Willy or anyone else unless an implosion happens. They are prepping to bring a couple of their stud AAA pitchers up here shortly, so they could stay in the Division race through part of August.

[TooLiveBrew]

The Brewers should be staying far far away from considering trading for non-hitters like Bonifacio & Bloomquist.

[JohnBriggs12]

John Mayberry would be a decent fit.

[JohnBriggs12]

The Brewers should be staying far far away from considering trading for non-hitters like Bonifacio & Bloomquist.

 

Bonafacio and Bloomquist both fit the mold of a Hairston. Bloomquist certainly lacks power as did Hairston but he's always been a tough out with the game on the line because he generally puts the bat on the ball and uses the entire field.

 

There aren't .800 plus OPS guys out there who are bench players. Bonafacio and Bloomquist are solid bench players who won't hurt you if they have to start for stretches either.

[TooLiveBrew]

The Brewers should be staying far far away from considering trading for non-hitters like Bonifacio & Bloomquist.

 

Bonafacio and Bloomquist both fit the mold of a Hairston. Bloomquist certainly lacks power as did Hairston but he's always been a tough out with the game on the line because he generally puts the bat on the ball and uses the entire field.

 

There aren't .800 plus OPS guys out there who are bench players. Bonafacio and Bloomquist are solid bench players who won't hurt you if they have to start for stretches either.

I realize there aren't .800 OPS hitters available for utility roles, but Bonifacio & Bloomquist aren't worth giving up anything of value for. If the Brewers get either one essentially free, then ok.

[Bombers]

Just to remind everyone here are some numbers to chew on

Jerry Hairson 2011 pre-trade w/ Brewers - .268 AVG / .342 OBP / .385 SLG / .727 OPS

Jerry Hairston 2011 w/ Brewers - .274 AVG / .348 OBP / .379 SLG / .727 OPS

Hairston Career numbers - .257 AVG / .324 OBP / .368 SLG / .692 OPS

 

Now the Brewers traded Erik Komatsu who had this on his belt:

2008 - 8th round pick put up .321 / .394 / .538 / .932 in rookie ball (316 PA)

2009 (97 PA) - .253 / .344 / .316 / .660

2010 A+ - .323 / .413 / .442 / .855

2011 AA Numbers - .294 / .393 / .416 / .809

 

So we traded a guy who had put up good numbers for a .692 career OPS guy. Just to give an idea of the cost of a .700 OPS guy. Now Jerry had value in defensive versatility.

 

So when I look at players mentioned, some are probably realistic possibilities

Bonifacio Career - .263 / .321 / .341 / .662

Bonifacio 2014 - .266 / .311 / .344 / .656

FA at season's end

 

Bloomquist Career - .272 / .319 / .346 / .665

Bloomquist 2014 - .279 / .300 / .349 / .649

Signed through 2015

 

Zobrist Career - .262 / .353 / .431 / .784

Zobrist 2014 - .256 / .331 / .381 / .712

2015 option

 

Prado / Mayberry (Both signed through 2016) - I don't see either of these being available. Really at all. And I really have no interest in trading for an outfielder.

 

And with the above, what prospect would we be looking at giving up? Komatsu was number 3 on our power 50 ranking before the trade. http://www.brewerfan.net/ViewPower50.do?power50Id=102

Here is our current Power 20 (Thanks ReillyMC) : viewtopic.php?f=64&t=31355

 

Would you really want to give up Taylor / Coulter / Haniger or Roache for one of the above? Maybe Zobrist - but I wouldn't trade any pitching.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The best upgrades to the bench are most likely to come from within. Caleb Gindl had a .779 OPS in extended playing time in the bigs last year. Hunter Morris would be a (probable) upgrade over Overbay. Trying to find guys like this on other rosters (and give up talent for them in the process) is silly, when we already have them.

 

What we don't have is a guy who can readily replace Bianchi/Herrera as the utility IF guy. I'm still willing to give Herrera a chance to see if he can get that OBP up over .300 or so though. And it's not his fault that he's mis-cast as an OF'er.

 

The problem is we have this seeming organizational philosophy that they absolutely MUST get at bats 'every day', and that somehow it will stunt their development if they're not hitting 'every day'. A guy like Gindl would get plenty of playing time. Braun really shouldn't play every single day at this point, and it wouldn't hurt to spell Davis once in a while.

 

have a bench of

 

Gindl

Morris

Maldy

Herrera

Schafer (who's much more suited as a 5th of/PR/defensive replacement)

 

..... and I think if they produce to what they're capable of, people wouldn't be griping about our bench production nearly as much as they are now.

[Bombers]

I agree RoCoBrewfan - I would prefer to promote from within. I just hope this is the year we do nothing from a trade standpoint. I just don't see the glaring holes that can't be remedied (or atleast attempted to be remedied) from our own AAA club.

[Baldkin]

I realize Hairston wasn't that great, and the collective think tank of Brewerfan.net always amazes me.

 

He put up an above average OBP and played 6(?) positions for the Brewers.

 

I love the Zobrist idea, I wonder if we could pry him away from cheap (and out of it) Tampa Bay.