Matt Dominguez claimed and optioned; Wei-Chung Wang designated for assignment (Wang outrighted; post 100)

[jerichoholicninja]

My problem isn't that we picked up Dominguez. He's a fine stopgap for a year or two with maybe a little upside. My problem is we have so much old, no value crap on the 40 man roster and we may have gotten rid of a guy who, even if the chance is small, might have a future with the Brewers the next time we're ready to compete.

 

^ This. 100% this. There were so much better options to get rid of than Wang. Wang might be a success or he might be a failure. But yet there's a bunch of confirmed failures on the 40 man that they decided to keep. Just stupid.

 

Remember last year when everyone was clamoring for Mike Moustakas as a reclamation project? He was essentially identical to what Dominguez is... .230 / .280 / .650 and 25 years old.

 

Would you look at what happened this year...currently slashing .320 / .378 / .452 / .830.

 

Funny how when the Brewers make a reclamation project move it's met with hostility, but if it's somebody else's idea its all fine and dandy.

 

He might become something but Moustakas blows Dominguez out of the water when it comes to their minor league numbers. Career minor league OPS for Mous is .842 compared to .726 for Dominguez. Even if you just look at AAA OPS Mous wins out .868 to .699.

 

I have no problem getting Dominguez or giving him a chance to play when Ramirez is traded this season or gone next but to just risk dumping Wang for him in incredibly stupid.

[JohnBriggs12]

He is very good with the glove and there is still potential in his bat.

 

Dominguez? Very good? Did you watch him play? I did all last season. Mediocre in the field and atrocious at the plate. So much so that he started the year in the minors! I don't care about Wang, but I care about bringing garbage like Dominguez. Moves like this have me ready to give up on this team. And I've been a fan since 82. The ups and downs, I was there. Now, I just don't know.

 

The Brewers are paying $14 million for the same production Dominguez gave the Astros last year. Dominguez numbers last year look a lot like Ramirez' numbers this year. He might never be an All Star but at 25, it's still possible he could provide some power at 3B.

 

I don't see the risk here. See if a change of scenery gets Dominguez going and let Wang isn't going to be claimed. He's got a lot bigger body of work than when the Brewers took him in Rule 5 and it's mostly all bad. He's not worthy of a 40 man spot here or anywhere else.

 

Brewers are in audition mode. They are auditioning players like Perez and Dominguez in particular as 3B candidates. If either or both shows something they will have an opportunity. If not, well the alternative is to sign a guy in FA or trade for a veteran. There's a name or two out there, like David Freese, who won't break the bank but will be overpriced to some extent or they could take on some contract in a deal for an already overpaid guy like Chris Johnson. But if they are truly in a mode of getting younger and cheaper, that's not the preferred route.

[JohnBriggs12]

My problem isn't that we picked up Dominguez. He's a fine stopgap for a year or two with maybe a little upside. My problem is we have so much old, no value crap on the 40 man roster and we may have gotten rid of a guy who, even if the chance is small, might have a future with the Brewers the next time we're ready to compete.

 

 

This is a straw man argument. He's 25 years old and is not a free agent until 2019. One year sooner than Wang. Dominguez has MLB experience, Wang is A+ material and has sucked at it. He may not ever see AAA let alone the bigs.

 

We probably just drafted 5 pitchers who will make it further than Wei Chung Wang will ever get. I don't know why we ever wasted the time and roster spot on him last year...who knows he may still end up in our organization anyway. It doesn't matter.

 

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better. Wang will clear waivers. What has he shown since the Brewers took a flier on him in the Rule 5? Nothing. On the off chance some team grabs, him, well the Brewers save a little money.

[pacopete4]

Maybe Melvin is just admitting he made a mistake on Wang. Maybe he thinks that if he clears waivers, he'll still have him as a project and if he doesn't, oh well because he didn't see a future anyways.

 

I agree on some of the other 40 man guys possibly having less value but if DM starts trading away guys he needs to have players ready to step in. I like the move. A chance, a small one, that we solve our 3B hole. We are in a better situation at 3B than we were three days ago.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Always worth giving them a chance. Not like he is 29-30..... He is 25. Same age as Segura and Jimmy Nelson. Little young to say his career is over. How long did it take Nelson Cruz to figure it out? It happens, when you have very few options, why not roll the dice

 

 

Nelson Cruz was a beast all through the minors. In his age 23 season, he had a .951 OPS with 81 XBH. He had OPS over .900 each of the following seasons as well. The Brewers just didn't give him a chance because STRIKEOUTS!

 

Comparing him and Dominguez isnt even close. Dominguez can't hit worth a lick. Cruz didn't hit much his first full season in the minors, and has destroyed the ball ever since.

[Outlander]

Other names that could have been removed keep on being mentioned but that is missing the point of the move. The Brewers want to get Wang off the 40 man and felt this was as good a time as any. Those other guys mentioned will likely be removed from the 40 man sometime this year or shortly after the season as well because they have no future with the Brewers. The problem with waiting with Wang is that many teams will have open spots then and Wang would more likely be claimed. I give credit to the Brewers for thinking about the future and putting Wang into a better position to succeed if he does not get claimed.

[LouisEly]

Like someone said earlier, Wang only has two options left - one was used this year - and he does not look like he will be ready to be a major league pitcher in three years. What's the difference if the Brewers lose him now or in 2018?

 

While I agree that Schafer would have been preferable, we can hope it signals a number of things:

1) Keeping Clark because they are trying to trade Lind

2) Keeping Schafer because they value defense

3) They are at least getting some feelers about Broxton and Cotts (BTW, Cotts has been pitching great - the two ER vs. KC were fluke/not his fault, as IIRC there were cheap bloop hits involved and a poor decision to play the infield in; even including that outing over his last 10 appearances covering 11.2 innings he has a 1.61 ERA, 3 BB, 15 K, and for the season has a .574 OPS-A vs. LHH)

 

Some other facts:

1) Perez is 24 and in the majors, Wang is 23 and in A-ball

2) Every team has at least three catchers on the 40-man roster

3) You cannot DFA/release a player on the DL - big time collective bargaining issue. I think the only way they can release him is to buy out his entire contract (that being said, it might be the better move - the old "sunk cost" thing)

[logan82]

Other names that could have been removed keep on being mentioned but that is missing the point of the move. The Brewers want to get Wang off the 40 man and felt this was as good a time as any. Those other guys mentioned will likely be removed from the 40 man sometime this year or shortly after the season as well because they have no future with the Brewers. The problem with waiting with Wang is that many teams will have open spots then and Wang would more likely be claimed. I give credit to the Brewers for thinking about the future and putting Wang into a better position to succeed if he does not get claimed.

How is it better to give every team in the league from now until the rule 5 draft to plan to get Wang? His option for the year is already used and he has to be put back on the 40 man or he will be available for the rule 5 draft.

[Roderick]

When Wang clears waivers, will the Brewers still have to pay him the $300,000 rate or does he go down to whatever a minor leaguer makes in single A ball or something in between as an ex-40 man roster guy?

[1992casey]

They'd be obligated to pay him anything that's guaranteed, so I'd assume that they're obligated to the $300,000. Wang would forfeit the money if he refuses outright assignment. With that amount of money involved, I doubt that he'd refuse.

[MNBrew]

My problem isn't that we picked up Dominguez. He's a fine stopgap for a year or two with maybe a little upside. My problem is we have so much old, no value crap on the 40 man roster and we may have gotten rid of a guy who, even if the chance is small, might have a future with the Brewers the next time we're ready to compete.

 

^ This. 100% this. There were so much better options to get rid of than Wang. Wang might be a success or he might be a failure. But yet there's a bunch of confirmed failures on the 40 man that they decided to keep. Just stupid.

I get that you & trwi7 don't like a lot of guys on the current roster & wish they were gone, but proven successful big leaguers who are having a terribly lousy season well below career norms does NOT make them confirmed failures.

 

I do find it funny there's so much tacit agreement that Clark should be DFA'd when he was everyone's darling last year and made a good case for the opening day roster out of ST. Shafer & Centeno could possibly be expendable, but I'd put Clark a good ways down that list.

 

There's also folly in trwi7's list or at least some questionable attention because the Brewers DID try to DFA Kintzler but then he claimed he was injured, so he had to be put on the DL instead. I want lots of good young arms in the system, too, and Wang has a good arm, which of course is why they made the roster sacrifices to keep him last year. But when you're 23 in A ball & still pitch like a position player, that's a sign that you're a clear candidate to lose your 40-man spot and status as a prospect of any significant merit.

[Thurston Fluff]

Players on the 40 man roster I would DFA before Wang.

 

Broxton

Cotts

Kintzler (probably can't because of DL)

Centeno

Clark

Perez

Schafer

Lohse

 

Yeah, we can keep holding out hope that Lohse will turn it around and get us something of value. Or we can keep a 28 year old career minor league 1B who can barely OPS .800 in Colorado Springs. Or a 28 year old outfielder who currently has an OPS of .611 in Colorado Springs. But it doesn't really make sense to keep these guys on the 40 man, especially over a guy like Wang, does it? Especially when at minimum 20% of our 40 man roster is complete crap with no future on our next competitive team.

 

Like I said. Picking up Dominguez is fine.

 

 

Some of the names on there are highly paid veterans who the team would be on the hook for if we DFAed them now. It would be much better to hold onto them for another month and see if their trade value goes up a bit. Even if it doesn't some team will be willing to take a flyer on the prorated portion of the contract if they don't have to give up anything in return. Heck they might be willing to give us an A ball pitcher with an ERA better than the 5.93 Wang is sporting now. If they DFA them now the team is stuck paying for them even if another team picks them up. The last thing I want to do is pay Lohse to pitch for the Cardinals and get nothing in return.

The other thing to consider is any other team would have to put Wang on their 40 man roster. When you have one of the worst farm systems in baseball how many teams have a spot for one of your rejects?

[Outlander]

Other names that could have been removed keep on being mentioned but that is missing the point of the move. The Brewers want to get Wang off the 40 man and felt this was as good a time as any. Those other guys mentioned will likely be removed from the 40 man sometime this year or shortly after the season as well because they have no future with the Brewers. The problem with waiting with Wang is that many teams will have open spots then and Wang would more likely be claimed. I give credit to the Brewers for thinking about the future and putting Wang into a better position to succeed if he does not get claimed.

How is it better to give every team in the league from now until the rule 5 draft to plan to get Wang? His option for the year is already used and he has to be put back on the 40 man or he will be available for the rule 5 draft.

There is zero chance he gets picked in the rule 5 draft. If not claimed the Brewers save an option for at least the 2016 season and depending on progressthe 2017 season. Plus the Brewers can now protect another guy or do the rule 5 strategy again in 2016.

[PeaveyFury]

Yeah, I don't get the issue that some are having on this either, as it seems almost a sure bet for Wang to clear waivers. If they do lose him, that's another story.

 

Otherwise, it doesn't seem worth worrying about the Rule V at this point. If this works, you free up a 40-man spot for a guy that fits the exact mold of who we should be looking at for the rest of the year while keeping Wang at least through the end of this year, giving the powers that be 3 more months to evaluate whether he's worth protecting in the Rule V or not. If they decide he's not worth protecting, I'm not sure another team will be willing to use a roster spot on him next year anyway.

[torts]

keeping/losing Wang is no big deal, having him on our roster from April - June was not why the Brewers tanked in August and September, and its not like him being on the roster the first part of the season mattered since we were killing it anyways. If anything, I blame Melvin for demoting him, clearly the team went to hell when they no longer had the WCWs to look forward too.

[superfly]

Dominguez can't hit worth a lick. Cruz didn't hit much his first full season in the minors, and has destroyed the ball ever since.

 

Dominguez had 37 home runs between 2013 and 2014. Home runs are only one aspect of the offensive game, but to say he cannot hit worth a single lick is a bit of a stretch.

[NYChez]

If this was 2 weeks ago and the transaction was a trade of Wang for Dominguez, everyone would be saying what a great deal it is.

[SRB]

I think this is a classic case of perceptions obscuring reality.

 

Wang's value on here has been drastically overinflated by the weird Rule 5 maneuver the Brewers pulled last season. If the scouting reports and statistics and everything else were identical, but we had simply received him in a trade or drafted him, it wouldn't be a big deal. I'm not dumping on him, but he is not an elite prospect, and taking up a 40-man spot is a substantial cost (yes, we currently have mediocre players like Logan Schaffer on the 40-man, but at least Schaffer you can call up to sort-of be a major league player).

 

Meanwhile, Dominguez's value is being drastically underrated because he's coming in as an Astros castoff rather than one of our own prospects. Dominguez was a top draft pick (#12 overall) out of high school, was considered a top prospect (i.e. top-100, even top-30 according to BP) for a few years, and already has a decent season under his belt in the majors (2.2 rWAR, 0.8 fWAR). And he's only 25. If everything were equal (including his poor 2014 and 2015 campaigns) but Dominguez was a Brewers draftee and had come up through our system, people would love him and have faith in him as a possible option at 3B next year.

 

I am actually optimistic that the Brewers can fix Dominguez somehow, because the reason he was so bad last season was he was hitting HRs and nothing else - terrible AVG/OBP and lots of strikeouts. And if you look, practically every other single Houston Astro has the same problem (even guys who came in from outside, like Luis Valbuena). Makes me wonder if it's something to do with how they're coaching their hitters.

[craigharmann]

Dominguez has no range. Sure, he can hit homers. Whoop de do. I saw him last season. Offensively and defensively, he's mediocre at best. Yes, the Brewers need to completely rebuild. Blow up the team and start over. If Dominguez is the kind of guy they looking for, then it will be a long, long time before the Brewers get above .500, let alone sniff the playoffs.

[dacbrewers]

My semester rant...I have seen many so called MLB prospects over the last 7 years come and go by the wayside. Dominguez has a new lease on life. Maybe he can turn it around...I give it a 10% chance...maybe up to 20% if the winds blowing out in Colorado Springs. Not sure if Schafer should be on 40 man but he's currently the best defensive outfielder at AAA for the Brewers and I would hate to see him go unless they can replace him with like speed. Also he is picking up his hitting lately. Personally I like speed in the outfield as many teams have and we don't. Still upset D'vontrey was released...wasn't the best hitter but his D made a difference in many games over the course of a season.. I still think the Wang experiment was a joke. Maybe the Pirates overpaid for a guy that was never going to make the bigs and since they did, the brewers thought they were getting a legitimate prospect and getting a great steal at the same time. How many times have the Brewers overpaid a pick only to release him later?

[logan82]

If this was 2 weeks ago and the transaction was a trade of Wang for Dominguez, everyone would be saying what a great deal it is.

Not really. Wang had/has some upside. He was also a lefty. You don't give up on that after 3 months for a bad defensive no hit 3B.

[MrTPlush]

Wang was a lost cause once he started to struggle. We were using a 40 man spot on a guy in High A. He needed to excell or he was going to be DFAed. I'd be surprised if Wang gets picked up. His salary is x12 what a normal High A player makes. Not to mention next year he will still make a good x7 more than a normal guy will make because you can only pay cut a player so much every year. I'd be really surprised if someone invests that much in a guy not producing. That plus a 40 man roster spot? A team would have to drop someone somewhat valuable to do so.

[adambr2]

Sure, he can hit homers. Whoop de do.

 

You say that like it's not something really good to do in baseball.

[splitterpfj]

Dominguez has no range. Sure, he can hit homers. Whoop de do. I saw him last season. Offensively and defensively, he's mediocre at best. Yes, the Brewers need to completely rebuild. Blow up the team and start over. If Dominguez is the kind of guy they looking for, then it will be a long, long time before the Brewers get above .500, let alone sniff the playoffs.

 

There is, "what you want", and, "what is available"....when a team is this flat on its face, unfortunately, both will play a role.

 

Fill the holes, while you build - like it or not.

[craigharmann]

Sure, he can hit homers. Whoop de do.

 

You say that like it's not something really good to do in baseball.

 

That's all he can do. Walk? Nope. Field? Not that great. Hit for average? Not really. So, great, you've got a guy who either gets out out or hits homers. Enjoy.