First Base

[BillMilton]

Trade Thames or Aguilar? Why?

 

What could they bring back?

[adambr2]

Neither would likely clear waivers right now.

 

In the offseason, I'm not sure. Aguilar probably still not much. Maybe an Adam Lind return for a couple lottery tickets.

 

Thames is a tough one to gauge. He's had a productive season but so much of that production was in April that it's hard to tell how the league values him right now.

 

I expect both back here next year. We have a pretty good situation at 1st, both are worth more to us than what we could get back.

[OnTheBlack]

Neither would likely clear waivers right now.

 

In the offseason, I'm not sure. Aguilar probably still not much. Maybe an Adam Lind return for a couple lottery tickets.

 

Thames is a tough one to gauge. He's had a productive season but so much of that production was in April that it's hard to tell how the league values him right now.

 

I expect both back here next year. We have a pretty good situation at 1st, both are worth more to us than what we could get back.

 

 

Not sure what the payout will end up being on the Lind deal, but it looks like it could be pretty good so far.

 

Anyway, I really like how easy Aguilar looks up there, he's got good discipline, he seldom looks like he's trying to do too much. I've made this comp about a half dozen times, but he reminds me of Jose Abreu. But there's really no reason to do much of anything right now.

 

I still like Thames...though I wonder a bit if he's a little bothered by some type of core injury because he just doesn't look as explosive as he did and his bat looks so much slower than it did early in the year. He's still really disciplined as a hitter and he draws a lot of walks.

[JohnBriggs12]

I would have preferred trading one of the two and giving Cooper a shot, but alas Stearns gifted Cooper to the Yankees so I'd keep both Thames and Aguilar for 2018.

[tmwiese55]

Yea seems like a no-brainer cheap platoon situation. Combined their stats together and you should have darn good 1B production.

[jerichoholicninja]

Yea seems like a no-brainer cheap platoon situation. Combined their stats together and you should have darn good 1B production.

 

Thames OPS vs RHP: .932

Aguilar OPS vs LHP: .948

 

That's a decent platoon.

[KeithStone53151]

Perez and his incredible flexibility will allow us to keep both if we choose. I could see us dangling one(probably aguilar) in the offseason. I would think Aguilar probably could net us a better haul than Jason Rogers did in 2015. I'm aware that the deal was a pretty significant overpay from a value standpoint for Pittsburgh at the time, but Aguilar also has way more value than rogers did at that point. I'm not sure if that would be worth it. A big part of the reason the offense has been as good as it has this season is depth. Any one or two guys can sit out on a given day and we still have a very potent lineup. Pick 3 of Perez, Pina, Vogt, Broxton, Arcia, Sogard...and those 3 would measure up well against the 6-7-8 of most teams in the league.

[pacopete4]

Perez and his incredible flexibility will allow us to keep both if we choose.

 

[JohnBriggs12]

Deal one Eric this winter and sign a better one?

 

Eric Hosmer will be a premier FA bat out there. With the Brewer rotation looking like a contending one, they could use a premier bat. Time to step up and make a big splash.

[MrTPlush]

Deal one Eric this winter and sign a better one?

 

Eric Hosmer will be a premier FA bat out there. With the Brewer rotation looking like a contending one, they could use a premier bat. Time to step up and make a big splash.

 

Hasn't been very consistent throughout his career. I don't hate on the big splash idea(and his age is very attractive), but I think the cost will make it a very risky venture.

[BrewCrewBlueDevil]

Hopefully they can unload Thames contract. It is not a good one.

[BillMilton]

How is Thames different from Chris Carter?

[clancyphile]

Perez and his incredible flexibility will allow us to keep both if we choose. I could see us dangling one(probably aguilar) in the offseason. I would think Aguilar probably could net us a better haul than Jason Rogers did in 2015. I'm aware that the deal was a pretty significant overpay from a value standpoint for Pittsburgh at the time, but Aguilar also has way more value than rogers did at that point. I'm not sure if that would be worth it. A big part of the reason the offense has been as good as it has this season is depth. Any one or two guys can sit out on a given day and we still have a very potent lineup. Pick 3 of Perez, Pina, Vogt, Broxton, Arcia, Sogard...and those 3 would measure up well against the 6-7-8 of most teams in the league.

 

This.

 

I think the top trade assets on the 25-man roster are:

Aguilar

Broxton

Davies

Thames

 

Ideally, I'd see all four dealt, either for more prospects for the system, an elite TOR starter, or an elite bat.

[jerichoholicninja]

Deal one Eric this winter and sign a better one?

 

Eric Hosmer will be a premier FA bat out there. With the Brewer rotation looking like a contending one, they could use a premier bat. Time to step up and make a big splash.

 

Never understood the love Hosmer got. Probably mostly the product of being a part of the Royals runs a couple years ago. Outside of this year, his offense is pretty average for a 1B.

[pacopete4]

I would really love to see the Brewers work out Braun and Santana at first base. Start this winter and see if there is a future there with either of those two. It just makes too much sense to not try it.

[JohnBriggs12]

Deal one Eric this winter and sign a better one?

 

Eric Hosmer will be a premier FA bat out there. With the Brewer rotation looking like a contending one, they could use a premier bat. Time to step up and make a big splash.

 

Never understood the love Hosmer got. Probably mostly the product of being a part of the Royals runs a couple years ago. Outside of this year, his offense is pretty average for a 1B.

 

He's an actual run producer as opposed to Thames who's driven in a paltry 26 of his teammates on base this season? Even "pretty average for a 1B" is an improvement over Thames.

[Devinep]

I would really love to see the Brewers work out Braun and Santana at first base. Start this winter and see if there is a future there with either of those two. It just makes too much sense to not try it.

 

Agree. Too many young OF coming up. Brauns gonna slow down and Santana's tall and a brutal OF

[Devinep]

Deal one Eric this winter and sign a better one?

 

Eric Hosmer will be a premier FA bat out there. With the Brewer rotation looking like a contending one, they could use a premier bat. Time to step up and make a big splash.

 

Never understood the love Hosmer got. Probably mostly the product of being a part of the Royals runs a couple years ago. Outside of this year, his offense is pretty average for a 1B.

 

He's an actual run producer as opposed to Thames who's driven in a paltry 26 of his teammates on base this season? Even "pretty average for a 1B" is an improvement over Thames.

 

good idea. Base how good a hitter is off of RBI.

 

You can take Pujols he's top 10 in AL RBI. Yeah Thames has been bad with runners in but he also stupidly is put 1 or 2 in the lineup

[superfly]

Hopefully they can unload Thames contract. It is not a good one.

 

Thames had his year paid for by the end of April, so I'm not sure how the deal is a bad one at this point. Unloading a $5m/yr deal on a 30HR guy who can take a walk seems silly to me.

[MilwaukeesBest]

+1

 

It's funny how the perceptions of people literally change on the drop of a dime. Especially on a forum.

[Lathund]

Thames deal isn't a bad one at all. If he became a free agent today, he'd likely get more money than what we're paying him, despite the post-April slump. So the money shouldn't really be a consideration in this. Doesn't mean we shouldn't consider how we can improve though.

 

Trying out Santana at first wouldn't be a bad idea. Having two 1B-only players in Aguilar and Thames (Thames in the outfield isn't really a thing...) puts some limits on a team that likes having an 8-man bullpen. Essentially forcing us to have Hernan Perez as the primary backup for several positions, giving too much playing time to a relatively poor bat. Whereas having a 1B who can play other positions as well gives some flexibility. Now that could come in many ways; Braun/Santana trying out there, Shaw (Don't have another option at 3rd though really), resigning Walker, a C/1B type. Or something else.

 

So what we do with Aguilar/Thames would have to depend partially on what the market is for them: I'm open to trading either one, but it should only be if there's a good return for them. And I worry that the slugger market isn't going to be all that great this offseason. And it should also be based on what the Brewers staff see day in and day out; where do they believe Thames/Aguilars real level is? Is there more to come from either one as they adapt (or re-adapt) to the majors? If it's unlikely, for whatever reason, to see improvement then we should rather actively look for trades. If they think we can reasonably expect more from either one, or both, then we hang on to them. Either to play, or to trade at a later date.

[clancyphile]

Hopefully they can unload Thames contract. It is not a good one.

 

Thames had his year paid for by the end of April, so I'm not sure how the deal is a bad one at this point. Unloading a $5m/yr deal on a 30HR guy who can take a walk seems silly to me.

 

It's not a bad deal at all.

 

The thing is... Thames and Aguilar are the kind of players that are good for the short-to-medium term, but long-term may be a different story.

 

If someone makes an offer for Thames/Aguilar that blows Stearns away, then I hope Stearns goes for it. The Crew can always adjust things (plus, moving Braun/Santana does open up space in the outfield for Phillips/Brinson/Stokes and other young players).

[BrewCrewBlueDevil]

5 million dollars for a player with declining skills who can not make adjustments at the plate. Oh yeah, five million for Garza being a #5 starter is a good deal, too.

[jerichoholicninja]

5 million dollars for a player with declining skills who can not make adjustments at the plate. Oh yeah, five million for Garza being a #5 starter is a good deal, too.

 

Not sure a 28 year old Thames has "declining skills." And, yes, $5M gets you basically a replacement level player these days so $5M is a good deal for Thames and probably Garza too.

[adambr2]

I have no problem with Santana tried at 1st, but for some reason I feel he may be traded in the off-season.

 

Feel like if Braun was going to be tried there it would have happened this last off-season.

 

Thames/Aguilar should be worth about 3 WAR a year as a platoon going forward. For under 7M a year, we can live with that.