Who has played their last game as a Brewer?

[OnaBadger58]

Small market teams need to take that risk to keep superstar players. It's a necessary risk to take if you don't want to be the Oakland A's. The thing with long contracts are that they start by buying out some of their arbitration years and adding multiple years afterwards. There's no point in signing players, but not extending them past arbitration. If you try to sign them after their arbitration years, they are going to test free agency and sign big contracts with another team. No top-teir player will be siging 3 year contracts in their prime.

 

Neither Braun's nor Fielder's contracts would have bought out any arby years. As far as small market teams needing to do them or risk becoming the A's which small market team did one of those crazy long contracts and did better because of it? I don't think teams need super stars in their prime to win. They need a lot of good players more than they need a couple super stars eating up half the payroll.

My bad, for some reason I thought the talk was about the first contract extensions for players (Braun's 7 year extension). In general, I agree with staying away from those 2nd contracts (although I can understand resigning Braun). Any contract that takes a player into the mid 30's invloves way more risk than reward.

[AKCheesehead]

There needs to be a greatest hits compilation video of Garza's awful throws.

[OnTheBlack]

Goodbye to Garza, Torres, Walker, Drake, Barnes, Peralta.

 

Walker wants to see what he can do in free agency. The rest are not good enough to be a Brewer anymore.

 

I don't see any reason to get rid of Barnes. Maybe we need more high leverage relievers or better high leverage relievers, but getting rid of Barnes would be similar to getting rid of Knebel after last season.

[adambr2]

I agree Barnes isn't going anywhere and the Knebel comparison makes sense. Knebel has his share of struggles in 2016.

 

What I'd like to know is why Barnes got away from throwing his slider so much in 2017. Coming up I always thought Barnes had a really nasty looking slider that perfectly complemented his fastball. For the most part at least to me it seemed that he ditched it this last season in favor of his cutter.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Susac is the only catcher with an option left, so he has that going for him.

that all changes if they add jacob nottingham to the 40-man roster before the rule 5 draft deadline.

 

Nottingham didn't hit any better than Susac and was a level lower. And I believe he still needs work on his defense. I don't see him as the third catching option next year.

 

Nottingham is also, what, 6 years younger than Susac? He needs to be added, or they risk losing him in the Rule 5. We aren't talking about him being up with the big club, but on the 40-man. If they leave him unprotected, there's a good chance that some other team would grab him as a developmental guy.

[FVBrewerFan]

Good chance? It's one thing to stash a Rule 5 guy in the bullpen for a year. But I can't imagine even a rebuilding team keeping a catcher on the 25 all year who isn't MLB ready either offensively or defensively.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Good chance? It's one thing to stash a Rule 5 guy in the bullpen for a year. But I can't imagine even a rebuilding team keeping a catcher on the 25 all year who isn't MLB ready either offensively or defensively.

 

Nottingham is more advanced than most of the catchers taken in the Rule 5 the last few years. And there have been a lot taken.

[jerichoholicninja]

Good chance? It's one thing to stash a Rule 5 guy in the bullpen for a year. But I can't imagine even a rebuilding team keeping a catcher on the 25 all year who isn't MLB ready either offensively or defensively.

 

Both the Reds and Padres did last year.

[FVBrewerFan]

Didn't know that, I stand corrected!

[bork]

I was responding to the notion that Susac gets dropped from the 40 man if Nottingham gets added. I don't see any way Nottingham is the first one called if a catcher gets hurt, that would likely be Susac. Whoever doesn't get the backup catcher spot between Vogt and Bandy ends up having to go through waivers to go to the minors.

[pacopete4]

Wily Peralta elected free agency. So there's that.

[reillymcshane]

Wily Peralta elected free agency. So there's that.

So did Nieuwenhuis, Blazek and Goforth.

 

None of those guys was on the major league roster, so that they left is not a shock. Rivera is another guy I expect to go. All those guys will likely hope for a better opportunity in another org.

[EauClaireNWL]

Thankfully, never have to see this again:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG1WwcRlE0Q

Wasn't the first time Garza did that in his career either...

 

(Starts at the 2:41 mark)

 

[DHonks]

Eric Sogard - I seriously hope we find something better to sit on our bench. He is not very good.

.

 

This seems ridiculous to me. Sure he had a career year, but high avg, high obp, some pop, and defensive versatility. He helped save our season. He’s unproven, but he was VERY good this year

[MrTPlush]

Eric Sogard - I seriously hope we find something better to sit on our bench. He is not very good.

.

 

This seems ridiculous to me. Sure he had a career year, but high avg, high obp, some pop, and defensive versatility. He helped save our season. He’s unproven, but he was VERY good this year

 

No, he was not VERY good this year. Feel free to pull out some accurate numbers to support that notion. He was carried by some ridiculous numbers when first brought up that are definitely not what he truly is. Look at those second half numbers. That is what he really is. He carried a prett high OBP compared to his AVG all year, but I'm not sure how true that is. Regardless this guy is definitely a below average hitter and possible straight terrible.

 

He wasn't god awful terrible, but he really isn't something we should want...not great D and pretty good bet the offense is well below average. We should want better, that is not ridiculous.

[adambr2]

Don't see the problem with Sogard back off the bench. He's a lefty bat that can get on base and play above average D all around the infield. If you're talking a million bucks or so, for a utility infielder you could certainly do worse.

[LouisEly]

Sogard's second half OPS was a Yadiel Rivera-like .586. For his career he's a little better against RHP, but still only .648. I'd rather have DeJesus as a backup and find a LH starter in FA/trade (i.e. Walker).

[3and2Fastball]

A smart GM will build a roster according to what he thinks best but also has to adjust to the manager.

 

Stearns needs to make sure that

 

Thames never bats vs LHP's

Sogard never plays SS again

Barnes never pitches in the 8th again

Thames never bats lead off again

Braun never plays more than 4 games a week

We have a better LOOGY than Oliver Drake!

And if Stearns believes in Villar, he needs to make sure he's the only real option at 2B, because otherwise Counsell will start someone else.

[coolhandluke121]

 

This seems ridiculous to me. Sure he had a career year, but high avg, high obp, some pop, and defensive versatility. He helped save our season. He’s unproven, but he was VERY good this year

 

No, he was not VERY good this year. Feel free to pull out some accurate numbers to support that notion. He was carried by some ridiculous numbers when first brought up that are definitely not what he truly is. Look at those second half numbers. That is what he really is. He carried a prett high OBP compared to his AVG all year, but I'm not sure how true that is. Regardless this guy is definitely a below average hitter and possible straight terrible.

 

He wasn't god awful terrible, but he really isn't something we should want...not great D and pretty good bet the offense is well below average. We should want better, that is not ridiculous.

 

He ended the year with a .393 OBP and 1 full dWAR as a part-time player on a team that desperately needs a versatile lhb on the bench and more guys who get on base. Will he have a .393 OBP ever again? Of course not. But it's not unusual for guys who keep working hard and staying in shape to peak a little after 30. Peak age is 27 or 28, but experience keeps accumulating well past that age. Sogard had some kind of chronic injury problem (I forget what it was, maybe his knee) that was apparently resolved in the offseason and that may explain why it took so long for him to put it together. Every situation is different and you have to look at the whole context. If there really was a chronic injury holding him back (not to mention playing in Oakland Coliseum), his career numbers might not be much more accurate than this year's numbers in terms of what he's going to do next year. Most fans are probably too biased in favor of recent numbers, but they should probably be given some extra weight in this case.

 

You can't just erase his first-half numbers. Regardless of how your production is distributed, it all counts. He was very good this year. Also, OPS undervalues OBP, so it's not a great stat to use for a guy like him.

[Humans Need Water]

Plush, if you simply said you think Sogard is gone because there are better options for the 25th man then nobody would take issue (he certainly won't be starting next year so he'll be the 25th man if here). But saying Sogard was arguably terrible this year is down right absurd. You can point to his 2nd half numbers as a whole for the player you believe he is except you'd be ignoring his mechanical adjustments prior to the season (Nelson, Chase, Thames in Korea, Broxton last year, Pina 2yrs ago, etc ALL made mechanical adjustments for the better), finally got healthy from whatever nagging injury he had for a long time as well as his production upon returning from a 3wk stretch of not playing due to injury. Post injury he started 2-33 in 11 games/8 starts. Was it just a slump or did the time off/injury affect him upon returning? No idea. I ask because he was great until the injury and post 2-33 stretch he finished 263/410 the final 7wks. Sogard will never be an OPS guy. He's a scrappy player not a power hitting middle IF. He's there to provide defensive versatility and be a lefty contact bat who gets on base. And that's exactly what he did and did it well. What Sogard did this year and what you believe he actually is are two different things.

 

This is also why breaking down numbers, looking at game logs and playing in the weeds matters, especially when someone isn't getting a full season's worth of run because numbers can severely change over a couple bad weeks (see Braun) when not getting 550 AB. Sogard's second half numbers, and overall numbers, are dragged down hard due to a 33 AB stretch immediately following injury. Just like a pitcher having a couple horrendous performances can alter their numbers...

 

Take Hughes for example:

67 appearances - 59.2 IP, 49H, 20 ER, 7.4 H9, 1.22 whip, 3.02 ERA (overall numbers)

65 appearances - 58.2 IP, 41 H, 12 ER, 6.29 H9, 1.07 whip, 1.84 ERA

2 appearances - 1 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 72.0 H9, 90.0 whip, 72.0 ERA (4H, 4ER in each appearance)

 

All this said, if Sogard's here I don't care. If he's elsewhere I don't care. But he most certainly was very good this year.

[MrTPlush]

I actually said I hope we can find something better. I never said no matter what he shouldn't be on the 25 man or anything along those lines. Eric Sogard had incredibly inflated numbers the first half. Eric Sogard is nowhere remotely close to being a .485 SLG% guy. His second half I a heck of a lot closer to reality, if not reality. The major increase in OBP% skills is also questionable. Also probably a little inflated, but who knows there.

[joepepsi]

On June 8 Sogard was hitting: 414/541/672. The rest of the year he went: 230/344/288. That's more in line with his career numbers: 245/313/324. The .344 obp after June 8 is intriguing and indicates he may have value as a lefty backup.

 

Villar hit 274/307/415 from June 9 on. Villar was very good in 2016 and I'd give him the chance to get that obp back up to 2016 level.

 

Sogard will look for a team that offers more playing time. Brewers have Thames, Aquilar, Villar, Arcia, Shaw, Perez around the infield. Figure Phillips makes the team, quite possibly Brinson. Given the current roster, Broxton and Sogard would be fighting for the final position player spot. I don't see Sogard waiting around to see how he fits in.

[KeithStone53151]

I actually said I hope we can find something better. I never said no matter what he shouldn't be on the 25 man or anything along those lines. Eric Sogard had incredibly inflated numbers the first half. Eric Sogard is nowhere remotely close to being a .485 SLG% guy. His second half I a heck of a lot closer to reality, if not reality. The major increase in OBP% skills is also questionable. Also probably a little inflated, but who knows there.

 

Sogard is basically in competition with Perez for that super utility role. He's not an elite athlete with range or arm like an Arcia, but he is extremely consistent in making the plays that he can get to and he's not extremely limited like a Yuni. He's also underrated in how he grinds out his at bats and sees a ton of pitches. I would say 260/360/360 is a reasonable expectation for Sogard. That isn't terrible by any stretch, albeit not something anyone wants starting a signficant number of games.

[pacopete4]

As much as I hate on Perez he’s vastly superior to Sogard.

[bork]

On a team full of free swinging, strikeout machines, Sogard is the exact opposite. He had the lowest strikeout rate and 2nd highest BB rate on the team. Yes, he probably wouldn't even reach Tony Gwynn Jr slugging, but if he can get on base and not strike out, I think he has value for the team. He probably won't repeat the OBP from this year, but I think he's worth bringing back as a bench bat.