Will Smith agrees to 1/$1.475MM contract ... avoids arbitration

[Outlander]

Per Jeff Passan:

 

Will Smith gets jiggy for $1.475 million with the Brewers. Oh god reporting arbitration numbers is turning me stupid.

 

[Oldcity]

Man. Passan is unfunny and not really good at his job.

[brewmann04]

wow a bargin what going on maybe they agreed to move him at some point.

[MrTPlush]

wow a bargin what going on maybe they agreed to move him at some point.

 

Actually if anything we overpaid. He was predicted to get $1.2mil.

[monty57]

wow a bargin what going on maybe they agreed to move him at some point.

 

Actually if anything we overpaid. He was predicted to get $1.2mil.

 

Agree. He's in his first year of arby, so while $1.475 isn't huge money in today's baseball world, it's quite a bit for a non-closing reliever.

[Roderick]

I can live with overpaying Smith, but they better not overpay Segura.

 

If a team agrees to go to arbitration and loses and just wants to cut the player at that price, how much are they on the hook for?

[1992casey]

If a team agrees to go to arbitration and loses and just wants to cut the player at that price, how much are they on the hook for?

 

I don't remember the details offhand, but it's something like 30 days pay if the player is cut in the first half of spring training (or earlier), 90 days pay if he's cut in the second half of spring training, and the full season's pay if he's on the opening day roster.

 

Contracts awarded in arby would be non-guaranteed. If the team and player settle, the contract would almost certainly be guaranteed.

[MrTPlush]

I can live with overpaying Smith, but they better not overpay Segura.

 

If a team agrees to go to arbitration and loses and just wants to cut the player at that price, how much are they on the hook for?

 

You pay 30-45 days worth of the contract depending on when you cut them in Spring Training. However if you cut a player and they won their arby case MLBPA is coming at you hard. You would have to prove the player was cut for performance and not economic reasons. So if Segura has a big spring training better than our other SS options and we cut him we could possibly be on the hook for his entire salary figure.

 

And you 100% can't drop him the next day or else you will be on the hook for the full arbitration price after MLBPA files a grievance. You would have to wait till the end of spring training(or close to it). MLBPA takes the arbitration process very seriously.

[3and2Fastball]

Good to have Smith signed. He has real value.

 

In regards to Segura, it blows my mind how under-rated Segura is, here & elsewhere.

[monty57]

Brewers' web site says they have agreed to one-year deals with all three eligible (Peralta, Smith and Segura). Smith is the only one with a dollar figure at this point.

[logan82]

Good to have Smith signed. He has real value.

 

In regards to Segura, it blows my mind how under-rated Segura is, here & elsewhere.

What do you mean by underrated?

[brewmann04]

It be pretty cheap if he comes to be our Closer and he have good trade value.

[Bombers]

I can live with overpaying Smith, but they better not overpay Segura.

 

If a team agrees to go to arbitration and loses and just wants to cut the player at that price, how much are they on the hook for?

Segura settled at $2.6 million, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

 

I don't think that is a horrible amount for a 25 year old, year 4 starting SS with a career .266 avg

[pacopete4]

I can live with overpaying Smith, but they better not overpay Segura.

 

If a team agrees to go to arbitration and loses and just wants to cut the player at that price, how much are they on the hook for?

Segura settled at $2.6 million, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

 

I don't think that is a horrible amount for a 25 year old, year 4 starting SS with a career .266 avg

 

 

It is when his OBP is roughly the same as his average and he has zero power. Tag that with just okay defense and you get yourself wasting $2mil.

[crickets]

It be pretty cheap if he comes to be our Closer and he have good trade value.

 

Smith already has some good trade value. Left handed reliever that can get both sides of the plate out in high leverage situations. If the bullpen stays as it to when the season starts, I'd almost want Smith as the 8th inning man again and try and get Jeffress as the closer to increase his value as well. He can throw heat and you mix that in with able to get saves and your value skyrockets. Now you have 2 guys that would be in good demand come the trade deadline, instead of adding another role to Smith as closer who had the value already.

[Roderick]

Good to have Smith signed. He has real value.

 

In regards to Segura, it blows my mind how under-rated Segura is, here & elsewhere.

 

I'm not saying he is the worst starting SS in the league, but he isn't close from the bottom.

 

Personally, I have no problem with Segura playing at $600K, but at $2.6M, he isn't going to produce that much more than Rivera (at min.wage), during a season we aren't winning anyways and the position is a placeholder for Arcia in 2017 (late 2016).

 

Maybe somehow he will take some pitches at the start of the year and have some good numbers, enough to get that trade. All we need is one GM with a need at SS that likes Segura like you that is willing to give us something for him. But I don't know how you assume the last two full seasons are a fluke and he is going to dramatically improve on his .285 obp and .615 ops.

[MKE81]

Segura is 25yrs old and a couple years from his "prime" - he's also dealt with the loss of an infant child one year then took a bat to the eye the next. Does WAR factor these circumstances into their output? Segura will be in the 50th percentile for compensation. That's fine. You think he's worth 600K. Look at his production vs Escobar the past 3 seasons and tell me his value should be 600K. He's plenty serviceable at this point

[molitor fan]

Mercer, Hechevarria, Galvis are all guys getting about the same in $$ as Segura......think it is silly to say it is wasted money when our salary is going to be stunningly low this year - we are looking at about 55-60 million at this moment

[monty57]

I don't think it's wasted money this year, but Arcia is very likely going to be our SS in the not-too-distant future. I hope Segura plays well enough that he is tradeable at the deadline, when we then bring Arcia up. Otherwise, he will at some point be relegated to "utility" status, and next year he will make somewhere around $4-5MM, which will be far too much to pay a utility guy.

 

The real question is whether the Brewers will be able to trade Segura for something or whether they will end up cutting him next offseason.

[jerichoholicninja]

Segura is 25yrs old and a couple years from his "prime" - he's also dealt with the loss of an infant child one year then took a bat to the eye the next. Does WAR factor these circumstances into their output? Segura will be in the 50th percentile for compensation. That's fine. You think he's worth 600K. Look at his production vs Escobar the past 3 seasons and tell me his value should be 600K. He's plenty serviceable at this point

 

Those both happened in the same year. What's your excuse for him last year? His approach is terrible and he's shown no signs of changing it. Ride him out this year and then ditch him.

[logan82]

Segura hasn't hit since the first half of 2013.

[MrTPlush]

Excuses Excuses Excuses. When is it just the fact that Jean Segura is a bad MLB player? Didn't he hit better after the tragedy of losing his son? Just watch him play. He has been brutal ever since his little hot start in 2013.

 

Also are people seriously trying to compare him to Alcides Escobar? Escobar has been pretty inconsistent offensively, but he has put together three solid years while Jean Segura has zero throwing out his obvious 2013 fluke. Also Escobar's defense is way better.

 

I'm sorry but Jean Segura has something like 1 WAR in his career outside of the first half in 2013. I don't care how low our payroll is that is a waste of money.

[Roderick]

Mercer, Hechevarria, Galvis are all guys getting about the same in $$ as Segura......think it is silly to say it is wasted money when our salary is going to be stunningly low this year - we are looking at about 55-60 million at this moment

 

Wasting money is wasting money, it doesn't matter if the payroll is $45M or $105M team salary.

 

You can take that $2M and plow it into scouting or foreign signings or free agent signings or use it in trades or use it to keep ticket prices low or use it for debt service or just put more money into the owners pockets now, so that when we are going for it again they will be more willing to spend and lose money to have the best roster possible.

[yfinn6]

Good to have Smith signed. He has real value.

 

In regards to Segura, it blows my mind how under-rated Segura is, here & elsewhere.

 

It blows your mind?!? Can you please elaborate?

[gregmag]

What you think of Segura comes down to what you think of his defense. I don't have my Baseball Prospectus book in front of me, but they love his offense, so they have him with minor but positive value. Fangraphs doesn't like his defense, so they have him at replacement level. Any discussion of Segura's value should at least acknowledge that difference of opinion.

 

Obviously he hasn't produced anything offensively, but we aren't in the golden age of ss offense any more. Segura was at the bottom of starting ss offensive rankings last year, but a lot of other guys were pretty bad.

 

I agree with the point that wasting money is wasting money, but I think the import of our low salary structure is that we don't have to panic when a guy like Segura gets arguably overpaid in arbitration. As most people seem to be saying, the smart move with him is to let him hold the position until Arcia is ready and then see what we can get for him. Nobody's saying cut him; I think that's the only point about the money. We can afford to wait the situation out.