Villar likely to play 2nd Base in 2017

[MrTPlush]

Villar to 2nd, Gennett traded/non tendered, and a 3B acquired though trade/FA. I do not see an scenario they let Perez start the year at 3B. It's pretty obvious what Perez is at this point and he should stay in that role. Wouldn't be surprised if that player comes via trade similar to picking up Broxton.

[LouisEly]

Agree that Scooter's trade value is pretty low. Good match might be the Angels who got pretty terrible production out of 2B last year. They don't have much in the way of prospects but maybe Stearns could unearth some interesting rookie level arms a la the Lind deal.

I've hypothesized Gennett to the Angels in the TR forum before. Not only did the Angels get terrible production at 2B, they are also very RH-dominant and need some LH balance. There is another player I could easily see going to the Angels - not named Braun - but that is for a different thread as it will pull this one way off topic.

 

Gennett's value is going to be for a team such as the Dodgers or Angels who need a decent cheap 2B and are trying to get under the luxury tax threshold.

[reillymcshane]

Bronson is right handed FWIW. However, your overall point still stands.

Yes, you are correct.

 

And it's Brinson, FWIW

 

Unless we're talking Charles Bronson. But he's dead, so I doubt it.

 

But yes, good point.

[AKCheesehead]

I think post #21 says it all. Other than the fact that I wouldn't put a ton of stock into what Heyman says the Brewers will or will not do.

[StearnsFTW]

Seems like the logical move.

 

Trade Gennett for whatever you can get. Won't be much because he isn't any good, but a flyer would be fine. The fact that we have little to no left handed batters us completely irrelevant. We're going to be terrible anyway, so who cares?

[adambr2]

Yep, for 2017, lineup balance is not overly important. We've got plenty of lefties in the pipeline. Gennett won't bring much back, but with Villar moving to 2nd, Gennett isn't even worth to us what we'd pay him in arbitration. Who knows, I thought Segura was pretty much worthless at this time last year, and we landed Diaz.

 

Lineup balance will come in time, as others have mentioned. Between Villar, Phillips, Ray, Clark, Diaz, and Erceg, and probably one other prospect that we end up acquiring, I would expect 3-4 of that group in the lineup sometime in 2019.

[DHonks]

To defend Scooter, he's cheap, left-handed batting, has developing power, improving defensively, and entering the prime years of his career.

 

Our priorities this season are to solve 3b, 1b (retain Carter?), and find some more cheap expendable bullpen pieces. Perez isn't an option as a starter. Scooter balances the lineup as well. If Weeks had panned out longer, Scooter might just be getting to the bigs and we'd be enthused about his numbers.

 

I'm not a big Scooter fan, but he definitely has value in an organization devoid of impact infield talent.

[Thurston Fluff]

I think Scooter can get us a couple lottery tickets because he is major league caliber and has a few years of team control. At this point I have to think the real question is if he has more value now or at the trade deadline next summer. I think a half season of juggling the lineup would be acceptable but only if nobody is willing to give up anything of value this winter. One way that might maximize his value is to trade him for a major league reliever in the winter. It seems like relievers don't get much attention the winter but come July everyone is willing to give a king's ransom for late inning help. Trading for an established one now might not cost more than Gennett and return quite a bit more next summer if he is any good at all.

[MrTPlush]

Biggest problem with Gennett is the fact he can only play 2nd base so having him as a bench bat probably isn't worth it. Unless a team wants him as a starter we might get virtually nothing.

[DHonks]

Until we find another capable 3b, I'd happily keep Scooter at 2b and Villar at 3b.

[adambr2]

I wouldn't want to keep Villar at 3rd. I think his glove will be a much better fit at 2nd, not to mention his bat will play better there. I'd focus on getting him at one position and keeping him there and I think 2nd is the right place.

 

I'm not concerned right now with who the guy at 3rd will be, there is more than enough time to figure that out. At this time last year we assumed it was between Segura and Arcia for 2016 and no one had heard of Jonathan Villar.

[MadThinker88]

Until we find another capable 3b, I'd happily keep Scooter at 2b and Villar at 3b.

 

Might I interest you in Giovanny Urshela??

[DHonks]

adambr2, didn't Villar outperform most 3b and 2b last year? His bat plays fine everywhere if he matches 2016 and doesn't improve one bit.

 

and Madthinker88, is that a joke? a light-hitting, low-power, no walk hitter? He makes Hernan Perez and Scooter look like stars.

[adambr2]

adambr2, didn't Villar outperform most 3b and 2b last year? His bat plays fine everywhere if he matches 2016 and doesn't improve one bit.

 

and Madthinker88, is that a joke? a light-hitting, low-power, no walk hitter? He makes Hernan Perez and Scooter look like stars.

 

His bat will play at 3rd, but it'll play at 2nd better, and more importantly, I think he's got a better chance of becoming a serviceable defensive player at 2nd than he does at 3rd.

[torts]

What happens to scoots???

[endaround]

2B was a hot bed of offense in 2016. Will it continue? Who knows, but there is very little difference between 2B and 3B in 2016 (2B and RF were basically equal at a wRC+ of 101 on average and better than LF or CF, though since lots of PHers play OF not exactly a fair comparison). Villar's wRC+ of 118 would be about 15th for those who got 350+ PAs at each position.

 

Villar has been a terrible defender a SS and at 3B. He might work at 2B, I'm dubious but it could work out. As for Gennett, he was doing really well until hsi injury and then nose dived both offensively and defensively. For the second year in a row he was basically replacement level. His walk rate improved which was good, but that was mostly because he took a bunch more walks against LH pitching (10.2% to go with a K rate of 27.8% versus 6.2% and 19.2% vs RH). This made him OK versus LH pitching but will this continue or will pitchers adjust? So Gennet is either a guy you play to hope you can get a guy who once again can give you a wRC+ 120 vs RH pitching and play solid defense to give you an OK starter or you decide to hand 2B to Villar and non-tender Gennett. Hard to see Gennett bringing anything in a trade given his cost.

 

Carter provided basically his career average last year. But due to the overall home run surge and Miller Park, he hit 41 home runs which can lead to large arbitration awards. He is little different form the guy the Astros non-tendered. Only reason I see the Brewers non-tendering him is if they want to try Santana at 1B. Even then unless his asking salary is astronomical you would think you would sign him in case Santana can't play 1B so you have someone and then release or trade him during spring training if you feel comfortable with Sanatan (or Villar..).

[adambr2]

The idea of Santana at 1st has grown on me a bit. He's still very young and improving, and should have enough athleticism to adapt to 1st, though his best defensive to, his arm, is kind of wasted.

 

If we could get average D and a .850 OPS out of a healthy Santana, that's definitely good enough to be the 1B of the future.

[gregmag]

Based on what we have now, Santana should end up at 1b; the only question is when. At the same time, I can't see Carter as a non-tender. Surely we could get something for him.

 

Gennett doesn't fit where the team is going. What's helpful is that Villar's and Perez's versatility gives us a lot of flexibility. If we get a good deal for Scooter this winter, great. If we have to start the season with him, fine.

 

I agree that we should be looking for another infielder, preferably at 3b but I'm not as confident as many people seem to be that Villar would be a train wreck at 3b. Right now I'd be willing to consider Villar at either position to leave us in a more flexible position.

[Invader3K]

$5 million or so for a 40 home run first baseman isn't exactly expensive or out of line with MLB salaries these days. I'm guessing Carter is our Opening Day first baseman again in 2017.

 

As far as Scooter, I have to believe some team out there is in need of an acceptable second baseman. That's what Scooter is. He isn't a guy to build around long term in Milwaukee.

[monty57]

I think Scooter can get us a couple lottery tickets because he is major league caliber and has a few years of team control.

 

 

Agreed. There is value to being a proven MLB player. For a team looking to compete that wants a 2B who won't implode, Scooter could be a decent fit. Stearns seems pretty good at digging up talent other teams overlook, as he has done in the Lind and Rogers trades, so I'm optimistic that he'll find a decent return for Gennett.

 

In regards to Santana at first base, I agree that should be his eventual landing spot. However, Braun is likely to be traded and they'll probably want to start Brinson in AAA, so we need Santana in the OF right now. Re-signing Carter for a season allows Santana to play RF one more year until the young OFs are ready, and limits the PAs given to guys like Jake Elmore, Presley, Flores, and others who got OF playing time for the Brewers this year.

[MrTPlush]

$5 million or so for a 40 home run first baseman isn't exactly expensive or out of line with MLB salaries these days.

 

It was out of line less than 365 days ago. Carter was set to earn approx. $5.6mil last year and the Astros non tendered him.

[jerichoholicninja]

$5 million or so for a 40 home run first baseman isn't exactly expensive or out of line with MLB salaries these days.

 

It was out of line less than 365 days ago. Carter was set to earn approx. $5.6mil last year and the Astros non tendered him.

 

MLB Trade Rumors has him at $8M which still wouldn't be much of a problem considering we have no reason to spend money this offseason.

[And That]

I believe part of the rationale for the Astros non-tendering Carter was that they were already stretching their budget, and felt that they had in-house replacement options ready to go.

 

The Brewers do not have any salary issues, and unless either you're extremely bullish on one of Cecchini/Cooper/Pinto or think they'll move Santana to first base next season, they have no ready in-house options to replace him.

[MrTPlush]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/astros-to-non-tender-chris-carter.html

 

$5.6mil

 

Non tendered because no one would then trade for him at that price.

[And That]

Right, they wanted to trade him because they were stretching their budget and felt that they had in-house replacement options. If their next best option had been Garrett Cooper and they had $10 million more in salary to play with, guessing he's still an Astro.