Why do people think Santana should play first?

[BrewCrewBlueDevil]

What is the deal with fans thinking Domingo Santana should play first? If anything he should be part of a package to obtain a first baseman. These must be the same people who thought Maldonado should play first because all you have to do is catch the ball. Sheesh

[MrTPlush]

Because we have a lot of OFers with not enough spots. Santana has extremely questionable defense in the outfield and a lot of that has to do with his route running. He also has attractive 6'5" height that makes a big target over at 1B. People want to try Santana out at first because he has power potential and a promising bat in general. Why wouldn't you want to try him there? He could provide a long term solution there.

 

On a side note if you are going to start a thread make a real title next time and the "we are all dumb/crazy" attitude out. You don't have a crystal ball and you have never seen Santana at 1B in your entire life just like us. You have no idea how he will fair there.

[DHonks]

On a side note if you are going to start a thread make a real title next time and the "we are all dumb/crazy" attitude out. You don't have a crystal ball and you have never seen Santana at 1B in your entire life just like us. You have no idea how he will fair there.

 

MrTPlush, In fairness, that's how most of your early season posts were. You loved to argue with people and pick fights, often sounding condescending. i feel as though--from an observer--your posts/contributions have grown dramatically over the season from unreadable to enjoyable. Not really anything to this thread here, but just wanted to point that out.

 

I thought Santana played a passable CF last year and solid RF, but his evaluation is incomplete for obvious reasons. If he is willing to move to first, I'd entertain the thought. I'm still holding out hope for a Nelson Cruz-like breakout.

[Greenleaf1]

I think if we trade Carter this offseason, some players are going to have to start trying to add 1B to their repertoire in ST.

 

Pinto and Cooper could get a chance to earn that spot, but I wouldn't trust either one out the gate with the every day job (and I actually really love Garrett Cooper as a prospect). Perez could play some 1B but his versatility will keep him from holding that position on an everyday basis. Santana would be a great choice given our overabundance of OF prospects. If he wants more playing time, starting a few times a week (to start) at 1B could get him more playing time. Between those 4 guys, I would think we could get a pretty decent level of production out of 1B next season (if we trade Carter, which is a big if considering we could still hold onto him all of next year and trade him later).

 

Easier said than done to learn a new position of course, but Stearns has shown that he is interested in players playing multiple positions.

 

My theory is we keep Carter for 2017, but wouldn't surprise me if other players start seeing more time at 1B, especially in Spring Training.

[JohnBriggs12]

What is the deal with fans thinking Domingo Santana should play first? If anything he should be part of a package to obtain a first baseman. These must be the same people who thought Maldonado should play first because all you have to do is catch the ball. Sheesh

 

Couldn't agree more. There's still some untapped potential there but there's still questions whether he'll produce at a level worthy of a corner OF or a 1B on a contending team. I certainly don't see a future All Star, and he could just turn out to be only slightly better than say Avisail Garcia.

 

Besides, Brewers could really use a LH power bat at one of the two corner OF spots or 1B. Maybe Phillips will bounce back in 2017 and make it to Milwaukee and could platoon with Santana in the OF or maybe they'd just be better off dealing Santana for a LH hitting corner OF/1B who's major league ready.

[tmwiese55]

I'd like to know if it's been tried or why he can't play 1B. What I mean is that if he is just godawful at fielding a ground ball then yea he's automatically out. But the fans like us just don't have access to that info so it leads to speculation like this. He's 6'5, not really that fast and is just not that good in OF so it's only logical to think 1B could be an option. Now throw in that we have no prospects close at that position but several close in OF and I think the more accurate question would be Why wouldn't people want to try him at 1B?

 

Based on the original poster I guess the attitude would be that players don't switch positions as easily as dumb fans like us think. Well, people do move to 1B fairly often. Top of my head as Brewer example, Corey Hart in mid-season. Also, Lucroy was able to play it just fine. Hernan Perez played a couple games with no issues. This year in MLB, Wil Myers. I know Daniel Murphy played there a bunch too. Frankly as long as he's not totally immune to fielding a groundball I see no way he's worse than Prince on D. Yes the jury's still out on him overall on offense but this a way for him to get lots of PT while also freeing up an OF spot, he hit fine last year and this year was ruined by injury, can't just rule him out already.

 

I actually think they'll roll with Carter one more year and possibly trade him at the deadline if he keeps doing well. At which point a guy like Brinson should be ready to come up so if Broxton is legit and Braun is here you you don't have a spot. Santana to first could be the solution. Unless he or the team come out and say it's been tried and he just can't do it (like with K Davis), fans are going to continue to speculate and rightfully so.

[homer]

No way should they deal a 24 year old with that kind of power until they absolutely have to. We talked about Broxton's exit velocity in another thread. Santana's is almost as good (9th best in all of baseball).

[1992casey]

Corey Hart had played first base in the minors. It would have been his preferred position had Prince Fielder not come along.

[tmwiese55]

Corey Hart had played first base in the minors. It would have been his preferred position had Prince Fielder not come along.

 

And why was that? Oh, he was 6'5 and not particularly fast. Though I was always content with his D in RF and even when he filled in CF on occasion and was a good baserunner. But as he got older/bigger he slowed down. Santana is already that big and slow.

[monty57]

Santana doesn't seem comfortable in the OF, and he just isn't very good there. Basically, he turns too many outs into doubles by missing fly balls that someone with his athletic ability should catch. We have some promising prospects who play good OF defense which could help us win more games. I still believe in Santana's bat, and he could probably become a decent fielding 1B, so it is reasonable to think that he could eventually move to first to make room for better defensive OFs when they're ready.

 

I'm not a big proponent of throwing guys to the wolves, so I'd suggest that Santana should play winter ball after missing so much time this year, and while there he should play a good deal of first base to see how he does. Some guys can't make the move, but most guys who are capable of playing MLB baseball can make the transition to first.

[MrTPlush]

Hopefully Santana can find a way to play 1B or he just doesn't have a future here. I remember when we got him his defense was some kind of positive with a strong arm. However since coming over all I have seen is a guy with fringy range, poor routes, and doesn't hustle. That strong arm he is suppose to have sucks too. I can't remember one time he had an accurate throw anywhere on the field.

 

I guess if we trade Braun one could test him out in LF to see if he can do better. Braun plays LF notably better than he did RF. Actually the difference is pretty shocking. I doubt the same would be the case with Santana, but I guess we won't know unless we try. I still might prefer a move to 1B since we have no one there long term.

[ZBTMP]

Corey Hart had played first base in the minors. It would have been his preferred position had Prince Fielder not come along.

 

And why was that? Oh, he was 6'5 and not particularly fast. Though I was always content with his D in RF and even when he filled in CF on occasion and was a good baserunner. But as he got older/bigger he slowed down. Santana is already that big and slow.

 

During spring training prior to the 2007 season, Hart, who stands at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), recorded the fastest 60 yard dash of any player on the Brewers roster.

 

Despite the awkward package, Hart was pretty fast.

[monty57]

Despite the awkward package, Hart was pretty fast.

 

Yes he was fast early in his career, which was his one saving grace in the OF, as he wasn't very good at reading the ball or taking good routes. He was also a 20/20 guy at that stage. Then he added a bunch of weight and started hitting 30+ HR, but the extra weight caused knee problems that really slowed him down.

[Outlander]

To go along with what T plush said, Santana has been pretty horrible in the outfield. We rip on Khris Davis for his defense but Santana is just as bad in a different way. So I would consider first because there still is a hole there pending what they do with Carter and it is another potential way to get Santana at bats.

[reillymcshane]

What is the deal with fans thinking Domingo Santana should play first? If anything he should be part of a package to obtain a first baseman. These must be the same people who thought Maldonado should play first because all you have to do is catch the ball. Sheesh

Because:

 

- Santana has great offensive potential.

- Santana is controllable for five more years, making him a longterm asset (while Carter is controlled for only 2 more years).

- Santana is a bad OF. This is the biggest issue.

- Santana will be less expensive than Carter (not a big deal, but still a positive).

- Carter is what he is at 1B. Mediocre defense, bad batting average, great power. Nothing wrong with it, but it's nothing special. I'm happy to have the guy this year, but he's not the future.

 

Yes, you could try and trade for a 1B - using Domingo as a chip. But that's easier said than done, and there's nothing wrong with taking a guy and moving him to a position where he will (hopefully) be better.

 

Finally, I never thought Maldonado should be a 1B, so no, these are not the same people. At least in my case.

[tmwiese55]

Despite the awkward package, Hart was pretty fast.

 

Yes he was fast early in his career, which was his one saving grace in the OF, as he wasn't very good at reading the ball or taking good routes. He was also a 20/20 guy at that stage. Then he added a bunch of weight and started hitting 30+ HR, but the extra weight caused knee problems that really slowed him down.

 

And like I said early on it wasn't an issue and in hindsight I probably could've used a better word like athletic/quick instead of fast. Due to his height and long stride it helped in a pure straight ahead speed thing like that race or stealing a surprising amount of bases. But again, as he aged and put on weight he just got slower and slower. Santana is already there.

 

I think this is really a no-brainer thing to try if it hasn't been already. However, there has to be a reason he's played all OF in the minors. Maybe he's always just been terrible at fielding grounders his whole life or it was tried in the offseason before and they ruled it out. Or maybe Houston viewed him as blocked by Carter (jk) or some other prospects at first. I just hope management is asked and they answer the question at some point so we don't have to speculate anymore.

[jerichoholicninja]

Has anyone from the Brewers talked about it? I'm not sure but if they haven't then it's pointless for us to want it.

[1992casey]

Because they already have a first basemen who's pretty good in several respects (certainly not all respects), it'd be premature for the Brewers to talk about a move publicly at this point.

[tmwiese55]

Good point, it can't be addressed directly to the public until Carter is traded, let go, or misses time with an injury.

[MrTPlush]

Or maybe Houston viewed him as blocked by Carter (jk) or some other prospects at first.

 

They got Santana in 2009 and Chris Carter was considered a Top 100 prospect. Over the years he was labeled as a Top 25 guy by multiple outlets and some even had him knocking on the door as a Top 10 guy. In a lot of ways as a prospect he was similar to Joey Gallo.

 

Of course that really isn't a reason to have a teenager play the OF vs. 1B.

[jerichoholicninja]

Because they already have a first basemen who's pretty good in several respects (certainly not all respects), it'd be premature for the Brewers to talk about a move publicly at this point.

 

I only say what I said because the Brewers or Davis himself said he tried first and wasn't comfortable there and hasn't it been reported a couple of times that the Brewers won't move Braun to first? Throw in Weeks and Hardy's public refusal to play other positions and it seems like the Brewers have been very open about position changes.