Brewers Acquire Angels C Jett Bandy for Maldonado and Drew Gagnon

[JDBrewCrew]

Tom ‏@Haudricourt 15s16 seconds ago

Stearns likes offensive upside to Bandy. Thinks he might flash more power as he gets more ABs. Also likes his defense.

 

Tom ‏@Haudricourt 15s16 seconds ago

Stearns said #Brewers will keep “open mind” with Bandy, Pina and Susac as far as who gets playing time going into camp.

 

dam McCalvy ‏@AdamMcCalvy 6s7 seconds ago

David Stearns says Bandy has plus raw power that hasn't necessarily shown up in his stats. Playing time split with Susac/Pina remains TBD.

 

Tom ‏@Haudricourt 9s10 seconds ago

Stearns did say there will be learning curve for #Brewers pitchers now that both Lucroy and Maldonado are gone. That what camp is for.

[hawing]

If a Bandy-Susac platoon happens, I nominate JettSac as the name for it.

[JDBrewCrew]

Tom ‏@Haudricourt 32s33 seconds ago

Stearns said he is still active on relief market. Wouldn’t surprise me if something pops there in next day or two.

[yoshii8]

He seems like a decent pickup. I thought Martin and Gagnon were totally expendable. Below is an article that makes me like Jett Bandy even more.

 

 

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bandy-726682-john-bartending.html

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm happy that they did address the catching position. It needed addressing. This isn't a huge move, but having Maldonado as the number one by default made little sense. Hopefully one of these guys emerges as a serviceable number one catcher. We know Maldonado wasn't and that's no knock on him just the reality.

[MadThinker88]

It might say more about Nottingham's future though that they have controllable guys ahead of him now.

 

 

Says absolutely nothing about Nottingham's future. He alone, controls that. If he shores up his defense and hits the way people think he can, he will have a future at the MLB level. It's really that simple.

 

It does say something about Nottingham... he needs time to develop and not have the pressure of fans asking each month: 'Is he (Jacob) ready yet??'

 

Only downside to move I see is the step down in pitch framing metrics (MM> Jeff Bandy). That directly impacts the pitching staff and has greater impact on those w/o the raw abilities.

 

DS has earned the benefit of wait and see with the other talent he has brought in. I will give him the time and space to prove/ disprove the benefits of this deal. Lets withhold judgement on this deal for at least 6 months..

[Boomer5]

Pretty solid back up catcher. Little bit of power, great arm.

 

Maldy was just a decent back up himself and Gagnon didnt seem like the was going to become anything super special.

 

What about Wily? He came on a bit late in the year and he is one of our very few pitchers that could be a #2 type.

[MillerParkSouth]

Since Piña appears to be out of options, I'm guessing Susac or Bandy will be ticketed to AAA to play every day. Will be exciting to see what we have in one of them in Milwaukee next year.

[patrickgpe]

i do like the idea of Susac starting and Bandy as the younger version of Maldy.

[FVBrewerFan]

It does say something about Nottingham... he needs time to develop and not have the pressure of fans asking each month: 'Is he (Jacob) ready yet??'

 

I knew this would come up! No, nothing to do with Nottingham. There is pressure from fans no matter what. There is pressure from the club to get better. Most of all, it's the pressure he puts on himself.

 

None of that changes whether Maldy, Susac, or Bandy are catching for the Brewers in 2017. If Nottingham really rakes and turns himself into an average defensive catcher he will get the job eventually, period. Nottingham will be in AA all season, it's all on him and none of these other catchers have anything to do with it at all.

[JosephC]

Looking back through Baseball America's Prospect Handbooks, and based on their reports it seems like a stretch to think that Bandy will be an everyday catcher. Looks to have everything defensively, but it sounds like he's very much a longshot to hit enough to stick in a starting lineup. Granted, last year was his first real look as a major leaguer, but a .281 OBP does not inspire confidence that he will be even an average offensive player.

 

I love him though as a backup. The Prospect Handbooks not only mention his ability to throw out runners, but also mention that "pitchers like throwing to him." Considering the number of young pitchers that will probably be on the Brewers staff over the next few years...Bandy's acquisition could pay off with just this attribute alone. Hopefully he'll hit better than what I am expecting.

[Jenkins5]

Good ISO guy who doesn't K a ton not walk a ton. 2015 in AAA was a very nice offense season for him. A catcher who hits .240 and can hit 15-20 HR a year has good value in this league as long as the defense is there. In very limited time, his WAR was already at Scooter level

 

Love competition! We got three solid options to compete. Let best man win & hopefully hit lighting in a bottle with one. We loss nothing & may have gained something with potential. Remember Broxton & Villar were guys we got in lose nothing hurtful type low hype deals. Trust in our scouting & maybe they found another hidden gem who just needed a chance

[MadScientist]

So the Angles got a better backup this year and possibly next (and a pitcher who might warrant a cup of coffee in a time of need), while the Brewers got someone they can keep for a few years and has some potential. Sounds like a fair trade, but since Maldy might have been the odd man out, I like that the Brewers managed to get it done.

[logan82]

I think this moves lets us trade Nottingham for a bad defensive left fielder who has no offensive skill except power.

[NievesNoNO]

It's these types of deals that have me very excited for the future of this team and the plan that Stearns and his staff have. I don't know if everything will fall into place but there's a definite detailed plan. When you're trading backup catchers trying to extract value with extra service time and maybe a fraction of upside that's a great sign in my book.

[rickh150]

Nothing to do with Nottingham, agreed.

Yet, they collectively are worried about his progress.

[Ennder]

Angels fans seem really bummed by this deal for what it is worth.

 

My personal opinion is that last year was a very big growth year for Maldonado even though the traditional stat line doesn't show it. His BB% went up, his K% went down, he pulled the ball less, he made harder contact. Normalize his babip to his career norm and his line was more like .242/.360/.380 with a .740 OPS.

 

I think he is going to be that sneaky type of C who suddenly learns to hit some in his early 30s. It wouldn't do the Brewers any good so I'm glad they got the younger more controllable player but I don't think this is the slam dunk win that some people do.

[FVBrewerFan]

Nothing to do with Nottingham, agreed.

Yet, they collectively are worried about his progress.

 

They are? I haven't heard or read that anywhere. All I've seen are comments from Stearns and others that AA was a very aggressive placement for him last year. He battled through it at 3 yes younger than average at that level. 2017 will be ano important year for him, Luke so many others in our Top 25.

[Jenkins5]

Nottingham was one of the youngest players in AA. He didn't star way we hoped but I doubt they are worried. They care about depth and competition throughout the system. I get he was a headliner in a trade. He was suppose to come here, walk on water, dominate his way though the system to being our star catcher of future but he didn't & stumbled at young age so people are writing him off & thinking Brewers have given up in him.

 

This trade has zero to do with him, all to do with build depth & competition with guys who have potential. Good trade.

[Mass Haas]

Nice article from August --

 

Angels catcher Jett Bandy likes to mix in fun with success

 

***

 

Nice tweet --

 

Energetic, uplifting, leader

[RobDeer 45]

 

Well it's obvious, they got him because he looks like Lucroy, and therefore will be a stud.

 

Seriously though, I think this makes complete sense. No reason to keep Maldonado around if you can get someone younger that lines up with their hopeful timeline for being competitive.

[patrickgpe]

Looking back through Baseball America's Prospect Handbooks, and based on their reports it seems like a stretch to think that Bandy will be an everyday catcher. Looks to have everything defensively, but it sounds like he's very much a longshot to hit enough to stick in a starting lineup.

exactly seems like he is younger version of Maldonado. Susac is a much better offensive catching prospect and would be a better choice to being an everyday catcher.

[Outlander]

I like the move because it allows them to keep Susac/Bandy and Pina in the organization rather easily. Before the only way to keep all three was to have Maldonado/Pina in the bigs and Susac still in the minors. Now they can go with Susac/Pina and use the last option year on Bandy this year. If Pina proves to be a decent backup maybe they can get something for him in a trade and have Susac/Bandy in 2018 and lets see where Nottingham is at in 2019.

[TracyThom]

If a Bandy-Susac platoon happens, I nominate JettSac as the name for it.

 

Reminded me of this:

 

[JohnBriggs12]

Looking back through Baseball America's Prospect Handbooks, and based on their reports it seems like a stretch to think that Bandy will be an everyday catcher. Looks to have everything defensively, but it sounds like he's very much a longshot to hit enough to stick in a starting lineup.

exactly seems like he is younger version of Maldonado. Susac is a much better offensive catching prospect and would be a better choice to being an everyday catcher.

 

Susac's AAA OPS is .777 in 140 games. Bandy's AAA OPS is .790 in 112 games. They are the same age. I'd say they are very close.

 

What did the Prospect Handbook say about Villar, Broxton and Perez? Point is we know what Maldonado is and he's not a starting caliber catcher. Judging from the outrage from Angels fans, there's a few that thought highly enough of Bandy to think he could be. Stearns has taken another guy who'll get a chance to show he's better than some evaluators projected him. Neither is a sure thing or close to it, but if he hits on either Susac or Bandy, it's a major plus.

 

I'd like to point out that statements about Nottingham like "we placed him aggressively" are a nice way of saying they aren't giving up on him, but left unsaid is they had hoped he'd done better and that they want to see improvement this year.