Who has played their last game as a Brewer?

[rickh150]

Hilarious saying that Sogard is a bench bat based on the year he had...... highest OBP on the team, great avg., solid defender, smart ballplayer, walks about the same as striking out. He makes contact when that is all that is needed in situations. He may not "look" the part, but if he's healthy he can be what he is for the next two, three years before age starts taking over. I think he's back, and I'm calling for a two year deal worth 6 million. If he struggles for whatever reason, THEN he could be a bench bat and late inning defensive replacement.

Walker is gone. He's going to cost us waaaay too much. I really like his skill set, but he'll want to get paid.

Swarkzak is gone too. Someone, somewhere will give him big bucks for his A- type of season he just had.

[coolhandluke121]

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.

 

Yep. He had a really good year and I don't see why people are just focusing on his 2nd-half stats. He was clearly working his way back from injury. Also, it seems obvious that the knee operation that caused him to miss all of 2016 made a difference. His year was a bit of a fluke, but he's at least earned the right to stay on the island for another year. He's a good fit as a versatile, patient lhb who can back up both middle infield spots.

 

Aguilar is the fluke guy they should move on from. An .827 OPS as a bad 1b with the benefit of a lot of platoon starts is nothing. He has significant negative value on the basepaths and not even a prayer of playing any other position effectively, and his career MiLB OPS of .800 would be a bit suspect for a middle infielder, let alone a guy whose can barely even play 1b. He's basically a significantly less versatile Jason Rogers.

[KeithStone53151]

Hilarious saying that Sogard is a bench bat based on the year he had...... highest OBP on the team, great avg., solid defender, smart ballplayer, walks about the same as striking out. He makes contact when that is all that is needed in situations. He may not "look" the part, but if he's healthy he can be what he is for the next two, three years before age starts taking over. I think he's back, and I'm calling for a two year deal worth 6 million. If he struggles for whatever reason, THEN he could be a bench bat and late inning defensive replacement.

Walker is gone. He's going to cost us waaaay too much. I really like his skill set, but he'll want to get paid.

Swarkzak is gone too. Someone, somewhere will give him big bucks for his A- type of season he just had.

 

If he's such an impressive player, why wouldn't another team sign him for more than the ridiculous 2/6 deal you are talking about? Name one starter on this team that he deserves to consistently start in front of? Exactly, you can't. That's why he's a bench bat.

[KeithStone53151]

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.

 

Yep. He had a really good year and I don't see why people are just focusing on his 2nd-half stats. He was clearly working his way back from injury. Also, it seems obvious that the knee operation that caused him to miss all of 2016 made a difference. His year was a bit of a fluke, but he's at least earned the right to stay on the island for another year. He's a good fit as a versatile, patient lhb who can back up both middle infield spots.

 

Aguilar is the fluke guy they should move on from. An .827 OPS as a bad 1b with the benefit of a lot of platoon starts is nothing. He has significant negative value on the basepaths and not even a prayer of playing any other position effectively, and his career MiLB OPS of .800 would be a bit suspect for a middle infielder, let alone a guy whose can barely even play 1b. He's basically a significantly less versatile Jason Rogers.

 

You actually couldn't possibly be more wrong on Aguilar. .827 OPS from a bench bat with sporadic playing time is like winning the friggin lottery. How many guys do you know that with very sporadic at bats can post that line? Guys that hit better than that usually end up taking over the starting spot and push for an all star appearance. I'm not sure what else you want out of a bench bat. Also Aguilar would be an emergency 3b if we were ever in a pinch and fields grounders there often before games. He grades pretty well as a 1b, I'm not sure where you are getting that he's a bad defender. The only thing you got right about Aguilar is he's a significant negative value on the basepaths, which is not a huge deal for a big time power guy.

[coolhandluke121]

Hilarious saying that Sogard is a bench bat based on the year he had...... highest OBP on the team, great avg., solid defender, smart ballplayer, walks about the same as striking out. He makes contact when that is all that is needed in situations. He may not "look" the part, but if he's healthy he can be what he is for the next two, three years before age starts taking over. I think he's back, and I'm calling for a two year deal worth 6 million. If he struggles for whatever reason, THEN he could be a bench bat and late inning defensive replacement.

Walker is gone. He's going to cost us waaaay too much. I really like his skill set, but he'll want to get paid.

Swarkzak is gone too. Someone, somewhere will give him big bucks for his A- type of season he just had.

 

I like him, but to scoff at calling him a bench bat is quite an overreaction to a fluke year. You also contradict yourself by saying you'd offer 2/$6m, as if a starting free agent 2b would ever have to settle for that.

 

I agree that Walker gets way too much. Then again, I'm not sure how many teams would really need him at 2b. The Angels would be the obvious choice, and they desperately need help in the lineup while Trout is in his prime. The Mets are probably rebuilding, but you never know; they've been impatient in the past. And of course the Brewers.

 

Swarzak only has one good year under his belt. I think teams have suffered a lot of market correction with regard to overpaying relievers in free agency and trades. It was all the rage with the success of KC a few years ago, but relievers continue to be too volatile from one year to the next to be worth big money. I think Swarzak gets something like 2/$10m with a 3rd-year option, and I would like to see the Brewers offer 1/$7.5m and see if he bites.

 

I hope they stick to one-year deals at most. Stay the course. They had all this unexpected success by being conservative and giving guys opportunities and second chances, so why overpay in free agency and trade markets now? Stick to what got you here. That means giving Villar and Sogard another chance. It means Barnes and Williams could be just as good as all but the best free agent relievers, as they both have the kind of stuff that helped Turnbow, Axford, Jeffress, Thornburg, and Knebel have a few great season in their prime in recent memory. It means giving Guerra, Jungmann, Suter, and Wilkerson chances to handle that 5th spot. I doubt any of them succeed, but you're playing with house money.

[coolhandluke121]

 

You actually couldn't possibly be more wrong on Aguilar. .827 OPS from a bench bat with sporadic playing time is like winning the friggin lottery.

 

Lumbering 1b's who hit .827 with the benefit of a lot of platoon starts are a dime-a-dozen. That's why they play sporadically in the first place. That roster spot could be used much more effectively by having Braun, Vogt, and maybe Santana able to play 1b.

 

He played a grand total of 14 innings at 3b in the minors. Fielding grounders at 3b during warm-ups means nothing. Baseball reference has him as a -.7 dWAR for his career in about half a full-season's worth of total innings, so his sporadic pt is protecting him from being recognized for the bad defender he really is. I know dWAR stats will disagree but that sure jives with what I see in terms of range and agility. He has a decent glove and all, but so did Jeter and Rollins when they were the worst starting ss's in baseball.

 

What about the fact that he had an .OPS of .800 in the minors? That's horrendous for a slugging prospect. You really think his .827 OPS (which isn't even good) in 311 pa's this year is somehow more indicative of his skill than his 4000+ MiLB pa's? You're relying too much on the narrative of the season. The sun shined on his butt a few times in crucial ph appearances. Don't let it go to your head. Jason Rogers him as soon as you get a chance.

[JohnBriggs12]

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).

 

De Jesus like Sogard has little power (5 career HR in 545 PA), but unlike Sogard he is contact challenged with 130 K's in those 545 PA. I can live with a power/high K combo but not a no power/high K combo. Besides they already have one RH utility player in Perez. Sogard/Perez as your two utility players is about as solid a utility combo as they come. Heck as a platoon duo, they'd make a better option than Villar at 2B. Remember Craig Counsell who was essentially the same player as Sogard, actually had multi year contracts that paid him up to $2.8 million in his mid 30's.

[KeithStone53151]

 

You actually couldn't possibly be more wrong on Aguilar. .827 OPS from a bench bat with sporadic playing time is like winning the friggin lottery.

 

Lumbering 1b's who hit .827 with the benefit of a lot of platoon starts are a dime-a-dozen. That's why they play sporadically in the first place. That roster spot could be used much more effectively by having Braun, Vogt, and maybe Santana able to play 1b.

 

He played a grand total of 14 innings at 3b in the minors. Fielding grounders at 3b during warm-ups means nothing. Baseball reference has him as a -.7 dWAR for his career in about half a full-season's worth of total innings, so his sporadic pt is protecting him from being recognized for the bad defender he really is. I know dWAR stats will disagree but that sure jives with what I see in terms of range and agility. He has a decent glove and all, but so did Jeter and Rollins when they were the worst starting ss's in baseball.

 

What about the fact that he had an .OPS of .800 in the minors? That's horrendous for a slugging prospect. You really think his .827 OPS (which isn't even good) in 311 pa's this year is somehow more indicative of his skill than his 4000+ MiLB pa's? You're relying too much on the narrative of the season. The sun shined on his butt a few times in crucial ph appearances. Don't let it go to your head. Jason Rogers him as soon as you get a chance.

 

I don't think anyone is trying to say he's a superstar or anything. Just that a .837 OPS from a bench bat is fantastic, regardless of position. Aguilar ranked 20th out of 59 in OPS among 1b with no restrictions on PA or games. He's posting numbers in the Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Brandon Belt, etc range of player. Not everyone needs to be super versatile like Perez, we have guys like Perez so we can afford to have a guy that plays only 1b and puts up big time numbers for a bench bat. Aguilar is also around that 26-28 age range where guys tend to peak, so I'm not overly surprised that he's found something and is performing better than his minor league numbers.

 

If we were to get a Jason Rogers type offer, you absolutely consider it. I don't think we had any intention of trading Rogers at the time, but that offer was something we couldn't say no to.

[coolhandluke121]

I don't think anyone is trying to say he's a superstar or anything. Just that a .837 OPS from a bench bat is fantastic, regardless of position. Aguilar ranked 20th out of 59 in OPS among 1b with no restrictions on PA or games. He's posting numbers in the Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Brandon Belt, etc range of player.

 

He got a lot of starts against lhp's and played in a lot of hitter's parks. Being 20th in the innings equivalent of half a season when so much is rigged in your favor means almost nothing when your track record is as bad as his. Guys like him are lucky to even be in the majors. Usually they're career minor-leaguers/Asia-leaguers like Matt Clark and Jason Rogers, both of whom were better players in the minors than Aguilar. Sure, he's in his prime, but that doesn't mean he can consistently hit better in the majors than he did as a full-time minor leaguer through his age 26 season (!!), with over 4000 pa's in the minors. He had some good ph homers in a small data set and it was fun, but there's no reason to think he'll be anything but a wasted roster spot next year.

 

Sorry but I think he's terrible and I will be disappointed if they don't find a much better way to use that roster spot while still having depth at 1b next year.

[MrTPlush]

Remember Craig Counsell who was essentially the same player as Sogard, actually had multi year contracts that paid him up to $2.8 million in his mid 30's.

 

Counsell had way better defense.

[djoctagone]

deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is friday. will any of the 2017 brewers be non-tendered?

[Outlander]

I imagine they will in order to free some 40 man spots, just a matter of which player(s). Probably still actively seeking trades for these guys as well.

[djoctagone]

i had taylor jungmann on my list . . . anyone else?

[djoctagone]

not surprisingly, no one had lewis brinson on their list.

 

also not surprisingly, a few had wei-chung wang on their list.