Trading for Francisco Mejia from the Tribe.

[TURBO]

It's easy to understand people's views on the catching position. We have been spoiled with Lucroy all these years, and we are about to find out just how spoiled we were.

[Roderick]

It's easy to understand people's views on the catching position. We have been spoiled with Lucroy all these years, and we are about to find out just how spoiled we were.

 

I remember the Blanco and Moeller years and the years when Kendall would catch every game no matter what, when he wasn't hitting anything more than seeing eye singles.

 

I would still rather spend assets on increasing the production of other positions first, assuming a level of defensive competency for the catcher, as you get more games played out of other positions for your contract dollar.

[Mudville9]

We are going to suck again next year, so I don't see much point worrying about catching for next year. Hopefully our catching prospects make some progress and we will see where we are at. A defensive type catcher would be nice though in order to help the young pitchers.

[clancyphile]

Don't sell Mitch Ghelfi short.

 

He's only 23, a switch-hitter, played some catcher, and did okay at both positions.

 

At first, that had me curious.

 

He posted a .763 OPS at Wisconsin and Brevard County.

 

Now, that has my attention.

[MKE81]

Mitch is a fine player. Liked him at UWM. But he's not MLB caliber. Should have a nice solid professional career in the minors

[zjl3]

I think one of AS or JN will be an OK stop-gap catcher for a few years. Good catching prospects, or MLB catchers in general, don't exactly fall on trees. However, there is no reason why, if nothing else, we can't acquire a catcher who is good at defense/pitch-framing, but can't hit at all.

[clancyphile]

Mitch is a fine player. Liked him at UWM. But he's not MLB caliber. Should have a nice solid professional career in the minors

 

He's 23, and honestly, if he's out of Brevard County, I think he'll prove to be a solid option. Brevard County is a death trap for hitters.

[MrTPlush]

Mitch is a fine player. Liked him at UWM. But he's not MLB caliber. Should have a nice solid professional career in the minors

 

He's 23, and honestly, if he's out of Brevard County, I think he'll prove to be a solid option. Brevard County is a death trap for hitters.

 

Being at Brevard County is not an excuse to hit .248/.273/.333...with those kind of stats he will never get out of Brevard. He did well at A ball at 23 years old...that is nothing. Add on his defense is nothing special what exactly gets one excited about him? Not MLB caliber stuff right there.

[clancyphile]

Being at Brevard County is not an excuse to hit .248/.273/.333...with those kind of stats he will never get out of Brevard. He did well at A ball at 23 years old...that is nothing. Add on his defense is nothing special what exactly gets one excited about him? Not MLB caliber stuff right there.

 

Clint Coulter didn't hit much better (if any better) there: .236/.311/.372 over two years.

[MilwaukeesBest]

Being at Brevard County is not an excuse to hit .248/.273/.333...with those kind of stats he will never get out of Brevard. He did well at A ball at 23 years old...that is nothing. Add on his defense is nothing special what exactly gets one excited about him? Not MLB caliber stuff right there.

 

When the team's average, average, is a measly .227 I think you could make a very valid argument that Brevard County is an excuse to hit .248. it's well-know Brevard County takes the bat out of a lot of guy's hands. I'm glad it looks like we're trending to a more neutral environment. Who knows if he's a successful MLB'er or even a successful AA'er, but he's a local guy to keep an eye on.

[TheCrew07]

Mitch is a fine player. Liked him at UWM. But he's not MLB caliber. Should have a nice solid professional career in the minors

 

He's 23, and honestly, if he's out of Brevard County, I think he'll prove to be a solid option. Brevard County is a death trap for hitters.

 

He was a below average C for A ball, he was a decent 1B.

 

He's not a C, just like Coulter wasn't a C.

 

edit. As far as BC goes, Mitch is a switch hitter, so he bats LH most of the time, which minimizes the BC effect.

[MrTPlush]

Being at Brevard County is not an excuse to hit .248/.273/.333...with those kind of stats he will never get out of Brevard. He did well at A ball at 23 years old...that is nothing. Add on his defense is nothing special what exactly gets one excited about him? Not MLB caliber stuff right there.

 

Clint Coulter didn't hit much better (if any better) there: .236/.311/.372 over two years.

 

Coulter had a reasonable first go at A+ and then the disaster second year. Gielgud has a small sample size of being a total disaster.

 

Coulter was 21 and Ghelfi is 23.

 

Coulter was a high draft pick Ghelfi not so much.

 

Just because Coulter got promoted with bad stats does it mean Ghelfi will. Ghelfi doesn't have the luxury of being a once highly touted prospect so he will hit or never move up.

[CheezWizHed]

It's easy to understand people's views on the catching position. We have been spoiled with Lucroy all these years, and we are about to find out just how spoiled we were.

 

Not to mention one of the BF.net iconic phrases/threads is based on how poorly we have done developing catchers: WOAH SOLVDD

 

Someone did an analysis a few years back and the number of MLB catchers produced by the Brewers was the worst position outside of starting pitchers. If I remember right, it was based on number of draft picks/MLB starts or some other value metric. Lucroy shines as one of the major outliers from our history, but its not like we produce many.

 

I would assume that any trade fro Mejia would have to include Susac as part of the package so the Indians would have some passable MLB ready catcher in return.

[MadThinker88]

I would assume that any trade fro Mejia would have to include Susac as part of the package so the Indians would have some passable MLB ready catcher in return.

 

I doubt the Indians would look for Susac as part of a package. Mejia is looked upon as a possible piece for 3 years from now, not in 2017 or 2018.

[brewcrewdue80]

I think when Mejia wasn't acquired with Lucroy's block, the trade for Andrew Susac became the answer at catcher. He and Manny Pina I expect to be the Starting duo next season with Maldonado being traded this offseason.

 

Had Lucroy not blocked the deal, I'll say the Brewers don't acquire Susac and keep Maldonaldo with Pina as backup.

[MadThinker88]

From a Brewer perspective, I will always have an interest in learning 2 things that were impacted by Lucroy blocking the trade to Cleveland:

1) What was the best offer DS got for Will Smith from SF or another team that did not have a catcher coming back in return?

 

2) What was the best offer DS got for Jeffries (alone) from Texas or another team?

 

With the cost of relief pitching being so high, I suspect the Brewers would have had a haul of talent for those two (Smith & Jeffries) in separate trades. Coupled with the 4 prospects from Cleveland (in the Lucroy deal) it would have been an impressive package & one I believe that is better then what the Brewers eventually ended up with (and that is a good mix on its own merits)..

[3and2Fastball]

Strongly agree on Mejia being a priority if there is any chance to get him.

 

Braun/Guerra maybe?

[splitterpfj]

From a Brewer perspective, I will always have an interest in learning 2 things that were impacted by Lucroy blocking the trade to Cleveland:

1) What was the best offer DS got for Will Smith from SF or another team that did not have a catcher coming back in return?

 

2) What was the best offer DS got for Jeffries (alone) from Texas or another team?

 

With the cost of relief pitching being so high, I suspect the Brewers would have had a haul of talent for those two (Smith & Jeffries) in separate trades. Coupled with the 4 prospects from Cleveland (in the Lucroy deal) it would have been an impressive package & one I believe that is better then what the Brewers eventually ended up with (and that is a good mix on its own merits)..

 

Exactly. Stearns was selling one piece at a time - it would be fun to know where that was headed. I like what the Brewers got, but it would be fun to know what the offers were.

[splitterpfj]

From a Brewer perspective, I will always have an interest in learning 2 things that were impacted by Lucroy blocking the trade to Cleveland:

1) What was the best offer DS got for Will Smith from SF or another team that did not have a catcher coming back in return?

 

2) What was the best offer DS got for Jeffries (alone) from Texas or another team?

 

With the cost of relief pitching being so high, I suspect the Brewers would have had a haul of talent for those two (Smith & Jeffries) in separate trades. Coupled with the 4 prospects from Cleveland (in the Lucroy deal) it would have been an impressive package & one I believe that is better then what the Brewers eventually ended up with (and that is a good mix on its own merits)..

 

Exactly. Stearns was selling one piece at a time - it would be fun to know where that was headed. I like what the Brewers got, but it would be fun to know what the offers were.