Garin Cecchini to Brewers for Cash Considerations

[Thurston Fluff]

I read something about Boston trying to change his hitting mechanics last season. If they did that might go some way toward explaining his drop off last season. He was a good prospect at one time and the type of player we might as well take a shot on considering our situation and how little it cost.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I like the addition. I'm not blown away. I find it odd that a guy with his frame is hitting single digit homers every year, but it is what it is. If he can OBP .350 and play decent defense he will have value.

 

I'm not real keen on a 1st baseman who's going to hit .270 with 7 homers.... so I really hope he can play alright defense and stick at 3B.

[splitterpfj]

This sort of thing is what the Brewers should be doing - not because this player is going to come in and be amazing, but because there's no reason not to give some young guys a shot. The Brewers will not win this year, and they have holes to fill at the big league level - would you be happier if they gave 3 million dollars to a guy who has proven he can't cut it in the big leagues?

 

Whatever happens with all of this activity, David Stearns deserves credit for getting right to work. All of the trades, and the Rule 5 Draft ... this is a great deal of turnover in a short time. If you're the new guy, and you're here because the organization is choosing a new direction, you should be working to do just that. He is.

[reillymcshane]

I'm happy about pick ups like Cecchini because it (appears) that we are past the stage of filling holes like this with crappy veterans, and instead trying to find players that might (stress might) be able to help in the coming years.

 

Yuni Betancourt, Mark Reynolds, Lyle Overbay, Juan Francisco, Alex Gonzalez, Cesar Izturis, etc., etc. all got far too much playing time over the past few years.

 

I'm not saying Cecchini is going to be anything special, but he's only two years away from being a top 50ish prospect, and I'm cool with trying to revive a guy like this as opposed to signing David Freese for 3-years/$30M (which is what we would have done in the past).

 

If Cecchini flames out, no big deal. We move on from him. But now's the time to take these kinds of risks. We are going to win next year, so let's take some chances. If we do this with several players, and one turns out, it's a victory. And certainly better than being saddled with a long term contract for a fading, older player.

[gregmag]

I'm happy about pick ups like Cecchini because it (appears) that we are past the stage of filling holes like this with crappy veterans, and instead trying to find players that might (stress might) be able to help in the coming years.

 

Yuni Betancourt, Mark Reynolds, Lyle Overbay, Juan Francisco, Alex Gonzalez, Cesar Izturis, etc., etc. all got far too much playing time over the past few years.

 

I'm not saying Cecchini is going to be anything special, but he's only two years away from being a top 50ish prospect, and I'm cool with trying to revive a guy like this as opposed to signing David Freese for 3-years/$30M (which is what we would have done in the past).

 

If Cecchini flames out, no big deal. We move on from him. But now's the time to take these kinds of risks. We are going to win next year, so let's take some chances. If we do this with several players, and one turns out, it's a victory. And certainly better than being saddled with a long term contract for a fading, older player.

I strongly agree with every word you wrote, as usual -- except for the "not" that you left out of the sentence "We are going to win next year."

[MrTPlush]

Don't know if this was mentioned, but Cecchini was tabbed as our #20 prospect by MLB.com.

 

He is a nice risk for us. Might be one of those guys who could figure it out late.

[danzig6767]

Nice flyer on a guy that was a top 100 guy two years ago I believe.

Prime example among many others that quite often top 100 prospects don't pan out as hoped for.

 

Had say the Red Sox traded him in a deal for a veteran two years ago which many of their fans thought was wasn't fair value, they'd have been upset. Now he was traded for cash.

 

For the Brewers in their current situation though, it makes perfect sense. Try and pick up as many as possible these type of once well thought of players who struggled in the higher levels of the minors or in the major, and then hope the strike silver or gold.

 

The Brewers are likely going to be bad to really bad next season, but it will be fun to see if any of these small deal players develop better than what they were picked up for.

[Boomer5]

Nice flyer on a guy that was a top 100 guy two years ago I believe.

Prime example among many others that quite often top 100 prospects don't pan out as hoped for.

 

Had say the Red Sox traded him in a deal for a veteran two years ago which many of their fans thought was wasn't fair value, they'd have been upset. Now he was traded for cash.

 

For the Brewers in their current situation though, it makes perfect sense. Try and pick up as many as possible these type of once well thought of players who struggled in the higher levels of the minors or in the major, and then hope the strike silver or gold.

 

The Brewers are likely going to be bad to really bad next season, but it will be fun to see if any of these small deal players develop better than what they were picked up for.

 

I agree. This is the kind of move the Brewers should be making. I mentioned the top 100 simply because he does have a skill set that at one time was pretty special. Either you have talent or you dont, and this kid does. Now its up to the Brewer coaches to figure out what went wrong and fix it.

 

DM was excellent at these kind of moves, and its what a team like Milwaukee needs to do.

[MadScientist]

I read something about Boston trying to change his hitting mechanics last season. If they did that might go some way toward explaining his drop off last season. He was a good prospect at one time and the type of player we might as well take a shot on considering our situation and how little it cost.

 

I saw a fan post about how he was trying to hit more homers last year. Sounds like that could have screwed him up. Just let him go back to being a guy who gets on base a ton and it will be a really good pick-up.

[brewtank34]

I read something about Boston trying to change his hitting mechanics last season. If they did that might go some way toward explaining his drop off last season. He was a good prospect at one time and the type of player we might as well take a shot on considering our situation and how little it cost.

 

I saw a fan post about how he was trying to hit more homers last year. Sounds like that could have screwed him up. Just let him go back to being a guy who gets on base a ton and it will be a really good pick-up.

 

Agreed, I'm sick and tired of the HR or bust mentality of this team over the years. These guys are professional hitters. They'll hit HR's from time to time and we still have HR hitters on this team. We need to surround them more with positional hitters and strategic hitters/smart hitters. I approve this message.

[BrewersAA]

love this! take the cash from the cotts trade and flip it to a guy that fills a need and he show potential

[Jenkins5]

So lets say this with Garin. Brewers drafted him in 2011. In 2015 after being September call up in 2014, he tore his ACL in April of 2015 and missed the whole season (meaning we simply toss out all his awful 2015 numbers), how excited would you be for him as a Brewer Prospect?

 

You like OBP?

.398(R+), .394(A), .443 (A+/AA), .361(AAA)

 

Like Steals?

stole 51 bases in A ball and the 23 total between A+/AA in 2013.....97 career steals in 4 seasons for a 3B

 

Like BB's but not K's?

BB's: 17 in 130 PAs(R+), 61 in A, 94 between A+ & AA in under 500 PA's, 44 in AAA in 400 PA's

He has never K's over 100 times or over 20% of his ABs. Sits around the 16-17% Range

 

Versatility?

Now he plays 3B, 1B, and LF

 

He is not a power hitter at least yet nor may he ever be a 20+ HR guy but he will be a guy who can collect 2Bs and some 3Bs. Steal 15-20 bases. Give at least solid/average defense. Take a lot of walks and hit for solid average.

 

Now he had a pretty decent September call-up. If we completely overlook 2015 I think there is a lot of reason to think he can bounce back and regain form. I think this was a great low risk, very good reward pick up! Sometimes a change of scenery is all you need!

 

Here are some interesting things I found online with him. 1st is about him being possible next Youk, and 2nd on his new versitility.

 

 

 

"When looking at that Youkilis, it's almost hard not to draw comparisons to Garin Cecchini. Like Youkilis, Cecchini has come up through Boston's system as a third baseman. Like Youkilis, Cecchini has made his name through strong strike zone judgement, walking in 13% of his plate appearances. And, like Youkilis, the traditional first base power does not seem to be present. The comparison isn't perfect. Cecchini's defense is not so polished as Youkilis', and while he's going to draw his fair share of walks, Billy Beane is not about to declare his divinity. Still, Cecchini is a quality prospect who can fill a major league hole when the time comes." ----Overthemonster.com

 

That's why Garin Cecchini, who spent the first three years of his pro career exclusively at third base, started playing left field last season before adding first base to his resume this spring.

 

"You see Brock, and Xander originally came up as a shortstop before playing third base," Cecchini said. "That's the way the Red Sox are going, so you have to accept it. I'm happy with it because it creates versatility in me. It gives the manager more options to play me."

 

Cecchini seems to be effective defensively at the multiple positions. He's committed three errors in 13 games at third base and one error in 13 games at first. In left field, the 24-year-old Louisiana native has one error and one assist in 32 games.

 

"He shows pretty good actions in left field," Boles said. "He's still working on taking cleaner routes, but that comes from experience." ----MILB.com

[MrTPlush]

I wonder how much their age played a factor into the decision. Right now a lot of our talent in the minors is starting to get into AA and AAA. Really hard to start finding places for them to play and finding time for them to get a chance at the MLB level. Yadiel Rivera for instance couldn't buy himself a chance to getting playing time at the MLB level. Why trade for a guy like DJ Peterson who would suddenly be competing with multiple guys just to get MLB playing time? Matt Clark for instance never got a shot and Mat Gamel rotted in the minors for years before getting a shot. DJ Peterson could have easily fallen into that same situation.

 

Why not get three pitchers in the low minors where there is more room for players? I think that is the main reason he found these guys attractive and not a DJ Peterson type. DJ Peterson would have had an uphill battle right from the start.

[MNBrew]

One thing which, on quick recall, may not have been given much airtime in this discussion (i.e., not reviewing the whole thread), is that Haudricourt mentioned in a tweet when news of the trade broke was that the Red Sox started moving Cecchini around the diamond because he became blocked at 3B as soon as they signed Sandoval. Boston obvious still liked him because they were trying to find other ways he could establish versatility and a niche which might've helped him remain on the 25-man roster. It's not unlike what the Brewers did when they tried Jason Rogers at 3B when they had a stream of other guys playing (or at least attempting to play) Rogers' natural position of 1B.

 

I've kept thinking of this as I've been reading the thread over the past 5 days because there have been several who are attributing Cecchini's positional moves (1B & OF) due to being a lousy defensive 3B, which appears to be a faulty assumption if Haudricourt's reporting is accurate (which I'm perhaps more inclined to trust than some).

[And That]

Cecchini has generally been regarded as a fringey defender at third. The Brewers should absolutely keep him there to see if there's any room for improvement, but Adrian Beltre he's not.

[Mass Haas]

Cecchini feature via Adam McCalvy

[djoctagone]

in 58 triple-a at-bats, cecchini has struck out only 6 times. he's definitely been putting the ball in play.

[pacopete4]

It's too bad he wasn't getting on base more.

[JohnBriggs12]

It's too bad he wasn't getting on base more.

 

He's shown decent on base skills in the past. It's a good sign he's getting some hits after hitting just .213 last year. He's far from the best infield option they have at AAA though. But he's the only one other than Arcia that's currently on the 40 man.

[Boomer5]

690 OPS in Colorado doesnt scream big league run producer.

[1992casey]

There's always the Yuni warning to go along with low Ks. In his case, there was very low production due to weak contact. Balls in play aren't any good unless there's OBP and/or SLG to back them up. Having said that, I'm still optimistic that Cecchini isn't another Yuni. But I wouldn't zero in on strikeouts as a cause for that optimism.

[Outlander]

He has been playing against righties and lefties and the lefty splits are really bringing him down. A Cecchini/Hill platoon would certainly be more productive than what they are getting at third right now. Don't mess around with Scooter and give some other guys a shot to prove themselves.

[pacopete4]

vs. RHP: .333/.366/.462/.827

 

 

Weirdly at home: .273/.304/.273/.577

 

 

I'm all for this guy being brought up and playing against righties over Hill. Even though I would like to see Walsh get a shot at some starts as well. Rivera would be a nice guy to send down but it leaves us no backup SS unless Hill is that guy and blah, just don't want to see that at all.

[Thurston Fluff]

vs. RHP: .333/.366/.462/.827

 

 

Weirdly at home: .273/.304/.273/.577

 

 

I'm all for this guy being brought up and playing against righties over Hill. Even though I would like to see Walsh get a shot at some starts as well. Rivera would be a nice guy to send down but it leaves us no backup SS unless Hill is that guy and blah, just don't want to see that at all.

 

With Perez up now it is more feasible to do that. That said I think I'd rather let Cecchini stay in AAA for a good couple months at least. From what I remember he is trying to regain his swing from a few years ago. I think it would be better for his overall development to do that in AAA. Let him become good instead of good enough and he might end up helping more down the road.

[monty57]

vs. RHP: .333/.366/.462/.827

 

 

Weirdly at home: .273/.304/.273/.577

 

 

I'm all for this guy being brought up and playing against righties over Hill. Even though I would like to see Walsh get a shot at some starts as well. Rivera would be a nice guy to send down but it leaves us no backup SS unless Hill is that guy and blah, just don't want to see that at all.

 

With Perez up now it is more feasible to do that. That said I think I'd rather let Cecchini stay in AAA for a good couple months at least. From what I remember he is trying to regain his swing from a few years ago. I think it would be better for his overall development to do that in AAA. Let him become good instead of good enough and he might end up helping more down the road.

 

Agree. If Cecchini can find the form that had him considered a top prospect, he could be a long-term answer at 3B, so I hope the Brewers think more of his development than of the MLB team's current needs. We have plenty of fringe guys we can use to see what they can do, but Cecchini is the only guy above A ball that has the potential to be an above average MLB 3B.

 

My guess is that Hill has until mid-season to see what he can do. If he plays well, we should be able to trade him. If not, someone else should get the majority of starts at third. If Cecchini is still playing well at that time, he could be the guy.