1B, SS, OF - Minor League Options

[Bombers]

As the trade deadline is here on Thursday, it appears to me that the Brewers are going to stand pat. (I am good with it.) But it now turns my focus to how can we improve 1B? or even SS? or our backup OF? Looking at the minors here are some could be given a shot:

1. Sean Halton - He can play 1B and the corner OF. Last year for Nashville he had an identical Lefty / Righty OPS split of .780. He came up and in 111 AB's batted .240. This year, he is hitting lefties in AAA to the tune of .318 / .366 / .470 / .836. (Righties he has .263 / .322 / .385 / .707) ... Has he learned from last year's experience? I for one, wish he would be given a shot.

2. Pete Orr - Bats left, throws right. I don't know how well of a SS he can play but he is currently hitting RHP in AAA at .313 / .332 / .471 / .803. He also has 1 start at 1B and a start or two at each OF position. (He has played majority of his games at 2B.)

3. Jeremy Hermida - Yes that Jeremy Hermida. (4th overall pick in 2002) ...Bats left, throws right. Strictly an OF but he is currently hitting LHP at .295 / .396 / .513 / .908. Against righties he is hitting .254 / .368 / .418 / .786

4. Jason Rogers - Righthanded 1B / 3B / LF- He is hitting lefties at .316 / .384 / .469 / .853 ... vs RHP .269 / .339 / .420 / .758

5. Matt Clark -1B / Bats left, throws right. His line in 21 games at AAA this year is .276 / .337 / .434 / .772

6. Hector Gomez - SS in AAA (Right/Right). vs LHP .281 / .306 / .444 / .750 vs RHP .249 / .302 / .439 / .741

7. Eugenio Velez - Switch hitter, throws right - played LF and 2B this year ... vs RHP .351 / .390 / .532 / .922 ... vs LHP .254 / .344 / .342 / .686

 

For those who have seen these guys play this year, should any of them be given a shot? What do we have to lose? Schafer is horrendous at the plate. Jean hasn't played will since July of last year. 1B needs some help too.

 

Update - added Gomez stats to list

[pacopete4]

Very nice thread. The problem with replacing Schaffer is that we do not have a backup CF. Herrera just isn't good enough to feel comfortable out there. Can Braun fill in there ? Eh, probably not good enough either. It stinks because Schaffer doesn't belong up right now.

[SoupTown]

For me I would Schaffer down and Hermida up. Then Schaffer back up in Sept. Hermida is a proven (long ago) MLB guy. The worst you do re CF is have Herrera in a pinch and Braun in a double pinch (can Hermida be the double pinch). Anyway, if Gomez was going to be down for a few days, you simply bring Schaffer back up.

[Outlander]

Out of the guys you mentioned none could replace Segura so they are kind of stuck there unless they surprise everybody and go with Hector Gomez. Besides Rogers, everybody would have to be added to the 40 man as well. It is unfortunate that none play center but at this point Schafer isn't really providing much of anything so I wouldn't blame them if they replaced him with one of the above.

[brewmann04]

what about Matt Clark the 1st baseman we added earlier this Month. I was also thinking Eugenio Velez

[Bombers]

Thanks Brew4U ... I agree with SoupTown on Schafer. If he is needed due to a Carlos Gomez injury, then we can recall him. Thanks for the reminder of who is on the 40 man Outlander. Taking a quick look, I think we could move Thornburg to the 60 day to open a spot. Velez and Gomez are options too and I will update the first post to include their stats.

[TooLiveBrew]

None of these guys is really a viable option, save possibly Clark in a platoon role (he posted a .785 OPS in Japan last season), & imo he's only viable in the sense that apparently Lyle Overbay is 'viable' at a sub-.700 OPS.

 

We've already gotten a look at what Halton can & can't do in the bigs. Orr is 35 years old with a career MLB .617 OPS. Hermida is slugging .418 in the PCL & can't play CF. Jason Rogers is a so-so hitter (similar MiLB #s to Halton) that the Brewers are trying to square peg/round hole into 3B. Segura's defense is good enough that whatever marginal offensive upgrade Gomez might provide wouldn't be worth it.

 

The reality is that the Brewers have needed an upgrade at 1B from day one of this season, & nothing has been done about it. If they can find a better 4th OF (who can back up CF), that'd be nice, but 1B is where a move absoutely, positively needs to be made if this club is serious about contending.

[monty57]

Agreed TLB. Since Nelson is up, we're probably a year or two away from seeing meaningful talent come from the farm to the MLB level.

 

We have plenty of so-so guys in the minors, so I think Melvin will do some kind of "Jerry Hairston" type trade. I'd like to see a 1B upgrade, but I at least think he'll bolster the bench/give us some depth.

[Fear The Chorizo]

The comment about no meaningful talent coming from the farm for the forseeable future has been repeatedly used ever since Mat Gamel was supposed to set the world on fire from 1B. I'm not counting Segura, because he's only here due to being traded for. Since then, Davis, Gennett, Thornburg, Henderson, Peralta, Maldanado, Kintzler, and now Nelson have been called up and have established themselves as "meaningful" MLB players. That's excluding the extended cup of coffee a guy like Fiers has gotten at the MLB level, too.

Unlikely that any of these guys are going to be winning MVP's or Cy Youngs, but they are all players who are good enough to be part of a winning ballclub. I agree that the next can't miss franchise cornerstone flying through the minors doesn't seem imminent right now, but saying because of that the Brewers won't get any help from within for 2-3 seasons isn't accurate, IMO. Lucroy's garnered MVP-level consideration during parts of this season, and when he was first brought up to Milwaukee I don't remember any hour-long specials narrated by prospect experts extolling how great he was going to be, either.

 

Hunter Morris has been a disappointment to say the least - that coupled with Gamel's injuries ending his MLB chances have really opened a gaping hole in the organization at 1B. I agree that something needs to happen there, both at this trade deadline and over this offseason, to fill that hole solidly for a few seasons until some of the bats who could play that position at lower levels have a chance to develop.

[FVBrewerFan]

I would also bring Hermida up and send Schaefer down. I don't care about back-up CF for a month. I think it's more important to have a bat that can PH and not be an automatic out when Braun needs days off.

 

If Rogers was a LH, I would give him a shot. But he's not, so I'm more comfortable with Reynolds. At least he plays a great 1B, and can hit big flys.

 

How is Velez defense? I wouldn't make that swap for Segura, but I would be willing to include Segura in a trade for a bat today.

 

Hard to believe just a couple years ago, looked like we were stacked at 1B/3B. Amazing how all the talent in Nashville has either been promoted or died on the vine. Huntsville isn't much more encouraging, unfortunately.

[monty57]

The comment about no meaningful talent coming from the farm for the forseeable future has been repeatedly used ever since Mat Gamel was supposed to set the world on fire from 1B. I'm not counting Segura, because he's only here due to being traded for. Since then, Davis, Gennett, Thornburg, Henderson, Peralta, Maldanado, Kintzler, and now Nelson have been called up and have established themselves as "meaningful" MLB players. That's excluding the extended cup of coffee a guy like Fiers has gotten at the MLB level, too.

Unlikely that any of these guys are going to be winning MVP's or Cy Youngs, but they are all players who are good enough to be part of a winning ballclub. I agree that the next can't miss franchise cornerstone flying through the minors doesn't seem imminent right now, but saying because of that the Brewers won't get any help from within for 2-3 seasons isn't accurate, IMO. Lucroy's garnered MVP-level consideration during parts of this season, and when he was first brought up to Milwaukee I don't remember any hour-long specials narrated by prospect experts extolling how great he was going to be, either.

 

Hunter Morris has been a disappointment to say the least - that coupled with Gamel's injuries ending his MLB chances have really opened a gaping hole in the organization at 1B. I agree that something needs to happen there, both at this trade deadline and over this offseason, to fill that hole solidly for a few seasons until some of the bats who could play that position at lower levels have a chance to develop.

 

A lot of people (at least around here) talked about Davis, Gennett and Lucroy. The Lucroy vs Salome "catcher of the future" threads were pretty long. Thornburg was a top 100 prospect, and Peralta and Nelson were around the top 50 prospect level. Most everyone expected all of these guys to have MLB careers of varying degrees.

 

After Nelson's call-up, we still have talent in the system, but it's a few years out, hence my comment that we won't see any meaningful talent coming from the farm for a year or two. Going down the MLB.com list of our top 20 prospects: Taylor is 20 in Brevard County, Arcia is 19 in Brevard County, Medeiros, Gatewood and Harrison were just drafted out of high school, Devin Williams is 19 in rookie league, Haniger is probably the best bet for talent from the farm as he's 23 in Huntsville, Coulter just turned 21 in low-A, Lopez is 21 in Brevard County, Roache is 22 in Brevard County, Jungmann (another possibility for help within the next year) is 24 in Nashville, Hellweg is out for the season, Reed is 21 in Brevard County, Taylor Williams is 23 in low-A, Tyler Wagner is 23 in Brevard County. Recently signed Lara is only 16 and can't even play in the U.S. for another year due to dumb laws in the U.S. that don't allow American teenagers to cash in and become millionaires when teams are willing to pay them.

 

The Brewers seem high on Haniger, and if he were having a better season (.255/.316/.416/.732 as a 23 year old in AA) he would probably be up now as our backup OF. He could potentially fill that role next year, but will probably be in the minors until he starts to hit like many predict he will. Jungmann isn't pitching very well in Nashville, and hopefully he turns things around and can be injury insurance this year and next. I had high hopes for Gindl and Schafer, but they haven't played up to them. We have some guys who will fill in to help out due to injuries, and some guys who will fit into the bullpen, but probably not any guys who should be starting anywhere at the MLB level. I would like Rogers to be "the next Khris Davis"... the guy who flew under the radar while hitting at every level. I'm not sold on Ramirez aging well into next season, so having a home-grown guy step in would be nice. I don't know which way the Brewers will go there, but I'd say the odds favor Rogers being back in the minors next year with Ramirez manning 3B for the Brewers.

 

Eventually, I think at least one (hopefully all) of Taylor, Coulter and Arcia will become good MLB players. I really like the guys we got in this year's draft. I'm not trying to rip on anything, just noting that we brought up Nelson and probably shouldn't expect much more help for a while.

[bill hAll Star]

I've always seen Halton as a AAAA guy. People keep bringing up his decent OPS in the hitting-inflated PCL while he's in his late 20s. I think in the MLB he struggles to hit .700 against even just lefties.