Should Khris Davis be traded?

[tmwiese55]

I agree they should get more back than Will Smith for someone with this much control left and at this age, especially if they hold him into next year and he starts out next year like he's finishing this year. There might be a package out there with Lind together that could be strong too. To me though, Lind is the only must trade this offseason, no rush on Davis.

[sveumrules]

Even assuming his 2013 was a career year fluke, Davis still has plenty of the always coveted right handed power with a .226 ISO (17th in MLB) over the last two years. I think a good comp for a possible trade return would be Evan Gattis who returned Rio Ruiz, Andrew Thurman and Mike Foltynewicz last offseason.

 

Khris Davis 2014-15 | 240/305/465

Evan Gattis 2013-14 | 253/304/487

 

Granted, Gattis was a "catcher" but Houston hasn't played him there all season so I don't think they surrendered any extra value in the trade as a result.

[MrTPlush]

His average has not declined unless you really want to use 130 ABs as an example in 2013...no thanks. He has only hit .010 lower than last year. That is nothing significant. Averages fluctuate every year.

[brewcrewdue80]

He's got the HR shine on him with his burst of HRs. Gotta trade him this offseason now. Teams will just drool at his 10HR calendar month. It's odd to me that he's hitting these HRs and his avg hasn't moved up. So his HR/FB ratio must be crazy% since this thread began. Again, he's filled with HRs, lower BA, low OB, weaker defense. The Live/Die by the HR is exactly what he portends. It's why I'd rather extend Lind who has an OB over .360 with above avg BA over Davis beyond this year. Santana has a higher Power ceiling with BB ability, better arm/speed. He's a complete upgrade over Davis. It'd be great to bundle him with someone else and nab a 2b or 3b to have in the lineup.

[MrTPlush]

The Live/Die by the HR is exactly what he portends.

 

I really disagree with that. You are treating him like he is Mark Reynolds and can't get 20 doubles in a year. Khris Davis has legitimate XBH power...not just homers. That has a lot more value than a guy who just hits fly balls and prays. Unless Adam Lind has a nice end to the season not one single player will get as many doubles as Khris Davis had last year. He lives/dies by XBHs which to me is way way more valuable.

[Kelbysdaddy]

Even assuming his 2013 was a career year fluke, Davis still has plenty of the always coveted right handed power with a .226 ISO (17th in MLB) over the last two years. I think a good comp for a possible trade return would be Evan Gattis who returned Rio Ruiz, Andrew Thurman and Mike Foltynewicz last offseason.

 

Khris Davis 2014-15 | 240/305/465

Evan Gattis 2013-14 | 253/304/487

 

Granted, Gattis was a "catcher" but Houston hasn't played him there all season so I don't think they surrendered any extra value in the trade as a result.

Atlanta got so much for gattis strictly off of hype. There is no way he is worth the return he got Atlanta. Nice power, below average defense, and a mediocre batting average. I have nevet been all that impressed by him.

[brewcrewdue80]

It's not the amount of doubles with that saying live/die its the lack of BA. Mark Reynolds is a terrible comparison because Davis isn't anywhere near a 225k a season guy. I'm just being hard on Davis withhis recent run to 22Hrs while keeping a BA below .240

 

Since Aug 5th 32hits-15HRs-3dbls 14singles.

 

You're right he did he a lot of doubles last season. Just his recent stretch shows All or nothing.

[trwi7]

Since Aug 5th 32hits-15HRs-3dbls 14singles.

 

He's hitting .257/.327/.607 in that span. We could only hope he or any of our other players would hit like that for a season.

[CheezWizHed]

There is no reason to trade Khris Davis. Nor is there a reason NOT to trade him. He is not a franchise fixture, but is a valuable player.

 

Its a nice position to be in. The Brewers could easily use the Davis/Santana/Braun OF all of next year. After 2016, there might be some push to improve Defense and have Maverick up at the MLB level.

 

The Brewers are heavy in OF, #3 SPs, and SS. They are weak at 3B, 1B, and #1 SP material (maybe C depth too). As the offseason goes, our GM will start making plans to fill those gaps. If we can fill a need at one of those positions and use Khrush to do it, great. I'm all for it. But there is no need or urgency to get rid of him.

[igor67]

I suspect that Davis will have one or two fantastic offensive years when his strike zone control gets really dialed in while the bat speed and strength is still at the top, and he gets lucky on some base hits. I've rooted for him for a long time, but his time on the team is probably limited in one fashion or another I'd just as soon see him dealt for good value this offseason, though as many others have stated it is not a need to deal him (part of what hopefully increases his value).

[logan82]

You can hit .240 as a MLB player and have a lot of value, but you better have an OBP close to 100 points higher than your BA.

[danzig6767]

You can hit .240 as a MLB player and have a lot of value, but you better have an OBP close to 100 points higher than your BA.

I agree that in general, hitters with a below average OBP for their position are below average hitters, but there can be one caveat to that. Power.

 

So if a hitter is only in that say a little above .300 OBP area, but has lower level power, then yea, he won't have much value. If though a guy has power to where his SLG is roughly .450 to .500 plus, many teams will want that in their lineup, even more so today where power numbers are way down compared to the steroid days. It's nearing the end of the season and only two NL outfielder have 30 or more home runs.

 

Davis currently has a .322 OBP which isn't ideal, but isn't really brutal either. Mix in his .496 SLG, he's got an .818 OPS. Granted, he won't spend the rest of his career hitting home runs at the blazing rate he's been hitting them through August/September, but this run isn't pure fluke either. Davis has legit power in that bat and his walk rate is up quite a bit from last year. A walk rate more like he showed in the minors.

 

If he had enough at bats to qualify, his .813 OPS would tie him for 7th among all NL outfielders.

[clancyphile]

I suspect that Davis will have one or two fantastic offensive years when his strike zone control gets really dialed in while the bat speed and strength is still at the top, and he gets lucky on some base hits. I've rooted for him for a long time, but his time on the team is probably limited in one fashion or another I'd just as soon see him dealt for good value this offseason, though as many others have stated it is not a need to deal him (part of what hopefully increases his value).

 

He should be moved - next offseason at the latest. I just see too many OF prospects in the system to keep him around.

[craigharmann]

Even assuming his 2013 was a career year fluke, Davis still has plenty of the always coveted right handed power with a .226 ISO (17th in MLB) over the last two years. I think a good comp for a possible trade return would be Evan Gattis who returned Rio Ruiz, Andrew Thurman and Mike Foltynewicz last offseason.

 

Khris Davis 2014-15 | 240/305/465

Evan Gattis 2013-14 | 253/304/487

 

Granted, Gattis was a "catcher" but Houston hasn't played him there all season so I don't think they surrendered any extra value in the trade as a result.

Atlanta got so much for gattis strictly off of hype. There is no way he is worth the return he got Atlanta. Nice power, below average defense, and a mediocre batting average. I have nevet been all that impressed by him.

 

None of the guys traded for Gattis have done much at all in the minors for Atlanta this year. Meanwhile, Gattis just hit his 26th HR last night. He's been a DH all season, and has fit in great in the clubhouse and totally worth the trade. That's the thing with prospects.....sometimes they pan out....sometimes they don't.....sometimes they take longer to pan out.

[jerichoholicninja]

Gattis has a .737 OPS this season playing in a silo. That translates to a 99 OPS+. He also adds nothing on defense no matter where you play him. Homeruns are great but when it's all you can do it's not as beneficial.

 

I don't know if Davis could bring back a better haul than Gattis but I would take Khris over Evan every day of the week.

[reillymcshane]

Davis is certainly upping his stock as he finishes well. His 23 HR is tied for 20th in the majors for right handed hitters. That's not an insignificant stat - especially considering he's done it in only 109 games.

 

I'm not saying we don't look to trade him - just make sure you're getting good value back if you do.

[craigharmann]

Gattis has a .737 OPS this season playing in a silo. That translates to a 99 OPS+. He also adds nothing on defense no matter where you play him. Homeruns are great but when it's all you can do it's not as beneficial.

 

I don't know if Davis could bring back a better haul than Gattis but I would take Khris over Evan every day of the week.

 

He has 9 triples. So there is that.....

[Boomer5]

A team with a maxed out revenue stream looking to trade away a 800 ops guy with cheap years of control for anything other than a game changing trade is insane.

 

If Davis can bring back a top flight pitching or 3B prospect fine, but other than that, I cant see why the Brewers would be in a rush to dump him. To replace his production in FA would cost a fortune.

[DHonks]

It's foolish to not consider trading him. Davis isn't a part of the future of this club. He's flashed enough potential that maybe a team will overpay for those cheap years. If the return is right, this is a no-brainer

[Outlander]

If the return is right, this is a no-brainer

Well that is the key, if the return is right. Boomer mentioned a top flight pitching or 3B prospect and I would be in agreement with that. However, this is the case for pretty much anybody, if the return is right then the player should be traded. If the return isn't right then I do think he can be part of the future still.

[DHonks]

Outlander, I agree. My post was a venting a little frustration. Some things that bother me on brewerfan.net when discussing trades:

- people think that it's always stupid to trade young players under team control

- people think that players never will return to form following injuries or bad seasons

- we should only trade players after 5 years of service time.

 

Davis is not a keeper. He is a flawed player. We should maximize the value we get out of him, be it on the field or in a trade. He seems like a guy the A's or Rays would love. I've defended his defense at times, but if we look at the sheer numbers, he's expendable. Unless the Brewers are serious about Santana in CF, Davis is our 3rd best corner outfielder.

[logan82]

How can they be serious about Santana in CF with Philips on the farm.

[reillymcshane]

How can they be serious about Santana in CF with Philips on the farm.

Santana in CF is a stopgap until Phillips is ready. No one sees him there long term. It's just a way to get Santana, Braun and Davis all on the field at the same time (short of moving someone to 1B).

[wrbest]

Maybe they can package him with Krod. Any AL team need a DH/LF and a closer...

[MNBrew]

The million dollar question here ultimately seems to be this: Is Khris Davis a guy with one great skill (HR power) and other skills that will evolve enough to make him a thoroughly valuable player, or is he really more of a one-trick pony whose one trick is just really impressive?

 

If the former is more likely, then the Brewers either have quite the strong LF for years to come or a killer trade chip -- potentially a different version of Gomez (Carlos, of course, NOT Hector -- ha!). If it shades the other way, then that would seem to scream "sell high" before the lustre's fully off. Either way, we could probably net a nice return for him this winter.

 

Another way to look at the situation is this: Could he be a guy whose offense evolves into Big Papi Lite? Or is he the more powerful OF version of Bill Hall, whose overall weaknesses appreciably undercut the value of his power?

 

Personally, I love the HR production but I'm still quite concerned that even with this great-power stretch since Aug. 1st, his BA isn't loads better and outside of his HRs he's not doing a great job of driving in other runners (the last bit sounds similar to Mark Reynolds' 2nd half last year -- loads of solo HRs!). Because he's hardly expensive, there's good reason to keep him. By the same token, that would only seem to add to his value in a potential trade. Either scenario seems plausible. I find myself favoring trading him if the right deal's there.

 

How Stearns (with FO & Counsell input) handle Davis this winter -- to deal or not to deal? -- is probably the thing I'm most anxious to see this winter outside of any developments with the pitching staff (hopeful new pitching coach included!).

 

... Then, as soon as I think I'm done typing, Davis homers off Rosenthal to give the Brewers a 9th inning lead!