Garin Cecchini to Brewers for Cash Considerations

[logan82]

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.

Yeah it would be more productive but wins are not the goal right now. The goal is to increase the value of players and the best way to do that seems to get the playing full time.

[JohnBriggs12]

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.

 

Perez has over 400 games at SS in the minors and Counsell said he saw Perez was capable of playing there in the spring. With Villar playing virtually every day and certainly adequate defensively, carrying a defensive specialist as a backup makes little sense. Besides Rivera needs regular AB's. We're getting closer to the point where if Villar suffered a serious injury, that Arcia could come up and take the spot.

[monty57]

We're getting closer to the point where if Villar suffered a serious injury, that Arcia could come up and take the spot.

 

It will be interesting to see what the Brewers plan to do with their top guys. Will Arcia/Phillips see the majors this year, opening 2017 as the starting SS/CF, or will they come up after the cutoff next year, buying another year's service time? Barring a miraculous push that puts them in the playoff hunt, I doubt what happens at the MLB level this year will change what they were planning for these guys before the season started.

 

Perez has over 400 games at SS in the minors and Counsell said he saw Perez was capable of playing there in the spring. With Villar playing virtually every day and certainly adequate defensively, carrying a defensive specialist as a backup makes little sense.

 

Agree. Since Gennett went down, Hill has played 2B with Walsh starting at 3B and Perez coming in as late-inning defensive replacement for Walsh. Rivera is talented, and if he isn't starting now it makes sense to send him to AAA to start everyday at 2B.

 

Hill is going to start everyday until they decide to either trade him or cut him. To topic, that should be when we potentially see if we have anything in Cecchini. There are always individual players I really want to see do well. This year Carter and Cecchini were two of those guys. I would love to see Cecchini put things together and be our 3B for the next half-decade.

[pacopete4]

Rivera needs to be sent down. With Walsh needing to be on this team because of the rules, Rivera needs the at bats in the minors. It is doing him no good to get sporadic starts.

[Crash2303]

when gennett comes back, i also hope that rivera is sent to AAA to play regularly and Perez is kept to be given another look at the MLB level to see if he is someone who could help next year and beyond. he's still young, and seemed to add some extra power and (although minute) a bit more plate discipline in the offseason.

[fondybrewfan]

Well Walsh has been pretty useless too; I don't think I would care to much if we returned him at this point. He is patient to a fault. He is going up there trying to walk and hasn't appeared capable of hitting actual MLB pitching. You can't be anything more than a utility guy if that is your only skill. Plus he has been below average at best on D.

[JohnBriggs12]

Still don't see the love for Cecchini. He's the same age as Perez. Perez is a better defender, better hitter and with the power he's developing (8 HR in winter ball, 3 between AAA and majors so far this year) looks to be a better bet to develop the power consistent with 3B. Cecchini hit for average and showed plate discipline in the low minors but since getting to the higher levels, both his BA and walk rates have slipped noticeably. He never hit for power and he's got a .372 slugging percentage this year. In a similar number of AB's between AAA and majors, Perez is slugging .547. Could Cecchini get himself in the mix there in the future? Sure.

 

I'm especially amazed at the doubters about Perez' power ability. Just look at the guy. He's no little skinny latin middle infielder type. He's a rock at 6'1" 215. In the past he was listed at 185, not small mind you, but he's put on 30 pounds of muscle as his body matured. Of his 2 HR this past week, one was to CF and the other to RF, with nice easy swings. If he got the opportunity to play every day in the big leagues, I easily see 14-18 HR potential there. It would be more, but he uses the entire field, a skill even more valuable in this era of infield shifts.

[Boomer5]

Well Walsh has been pretty useless too; I don't think I would care to much if we returned him at this point. He is patient to a fault. He is going up there trying to walk and hasn't appeared capable of hitting actual MLB pitching. You can't be anything more than a utility guy if that is your only skill. Plus he has been below average at best on D.

 

I agree. At this point Id just offer Walsh back and see what happens.

[Outlander]

What would happen is the A's would take him back. If the Brewers don't feel he can ever hit at the big league level then fine otherwise it is not that hard to keep him on the roster.

[reillymcshane]

 

I'm especially amazed at the doubters about Perez' power ability. Just look at the guy. He's no little skinny latin middle infielder type.

3 HR in 349 ABs. Most he ever hit in the minors was 8. While the HRs in the Venezuelan League are great to see, they are not a great predictor of success.

 

I'm more concerned about Perez's inability to take a walk. Pitchers will exploit that. They'll figure out he swings at anything, and he'll never see anything in his wheelhouse. I'm okay giving the guy playing time, but I don't expect much from him unless he acquires a modicum of plate discipline.

[Boomer5]

What would happen is the A's would take him back. If the Brewers don't feel he can ever hit at the big league level then fine otherwise it is not that hard to keep him on the roster.

 

He is a 26 year old hitting .094 with below average D. His saving grace is that he isn't blocking anyone the Brewers want to develop here I guess?

[DuWayne Steurer]

At some point, I'm going to assume someone in the dugout is going to have to take Walsh aside and say "Hey, that .350 OBP is great and all, but that .100 SLG% isn't cutting it"

 

As others have said, he's going up to the plate not with the mindset of "getting on base" but instead "I'm going to take a walk". I realize OBP is the more important part of OPS, but if your SLG% is on the lower end of .150, you're not really creating value as an offensive player.

[pacopete4]

What would happen is the A's would take him back. If the Brewers don't feel he can ever hit at the big league level then fine otherwise it is not that hard to keep him on the roster.

 

He is a 26 year old hitting .094 with below average D. His saving grace is that he isn't blocking anyone the Brewers want to develop here I guess?

 

Yes with the most irregular at bat on this team. Having said that, the fact that he is still patient and knows the strike zone after being rusted to the bench, is awesome to see. Counsell has done this guy no favors to start this season. No reason at all to give up on this guy.

[jerichoholicninja]

You can't really teach patience or "eye at the plate". You can develop a guy in to being better at hitting the ball. The hard part is out of the way.

[And That]

I would pay money to see Colin Walsh face off against Jorge Ortega a few dozen times.

[MadScientist]

At some point, I'm going to assume someone in the dugout is going to have to take Walsh aside and say "Hey, that .350 OBP is great and all, but that .100 SLG% isn't cutting it"

 

As others have said, he's going up to the plate not with the mindset of "getting on base" but instead "I'm going to take a walk". I realize OBP is the more important part of OPS, but if your SLG% is on the lower end of .150, you're not really creating value as an offensive player.

 

He has good value as a pinch hitter, coming in for a pitcher when you really need a runner to kickstart a rally.

 

Everyone here wants to see him hit better, but as the last guy on the roster, he does have some useful value. He's a better option than Maldonado, Rivera, or Flores.

[gregmag]

I'm inclined to be very patient with these guys -- Cecchini, Perez, Walsh, Flores, Broxton -- because why shouldn't we be?

 

Walsh is facing major league pitching above for the first time. It's a miracle he's doing anything well. He has one elite skill, and he's shown other skills in the minors. Why wouldn't you give a guy like that more rope?

 

We sent Broxton down after 16 PAs. Sending him down to sort himself out was very reasonable, and he seems to have sorted himself out pretty well so far. He should get a longer look.

 

Cecchini . . . I don't know why he crashed and burned after looking so good early in his career. I remember hearing that he had screwed up his approach somehow. Recovering from that takes time. We should give him at least a half season's worth of regular AAA PAs before we draw any conclusions.

 

As for Flores, one poster here keeps repeating that all Flores can do well is draw walks. Actually, he's batted over .295 in four of seven minor league seasons. The last two seasons in the minors he slugged .454 and .487. He has shown promise as a hitter, and he's only 24.

 

Perez is 25. His MLB record is bad. But a power uptick at his age could be a real thing, and if he can hit a few homers, he becomes somebody we can use, at least to tide us over during the rebuild. Give him semi-regular time and see what happens.

 

I want to see more of all of these guys. I think every one of them still has a chance to be useful. Exploring those chances costs us nothing this year.