Lucroy

[Boomer5]

If Luc would come back at a 2 years $12M total or so then you add him and make Pina the back up.

 

Pina played really well last year but you have to assume that was a pleasant surprise not a career arc.

 

Vogt has virtually no value and no one would miss him.

[coolhandluke121]

This argument essentially comes to Vogt vs Pina. One guy got cut last year because he'd been bad for a while and is terrible on defense at one of the most important defensive position. The other played great D with a great arm while hitting at a respectable clip consistently all year. I know which one I'd roll with and it's not very close. The only thing Vogt has going is being lefty but in a platoon like this you're going to have a closer to 50/50 thing going on more than a strict right lefty since you're not going to play Vogt every game vs rightys because he's just not good enough.

 

But even if you do think it's a close call I think this should be the deciding point. If Lucroy got hurt for an extended stretch, which one could play the normal C level of starts of 66-75% of games. That answer is Pina.

 

And this comes from someone who repeatedly defended Vogt at the end of last year over the constant bashing of his arm by people who acted like we're just going to give 11 stolen bases per game.

 

Again, I just said if Pina had an option, I'd love to sign Lucroy. It was a hypothetical. Nobody is suggesting they should cut Pina in favor of Vogt. There's a decent chance Pina would be the backup by the end of May, but Vogt flashed some bat in his two months with the Brewers and there's no harm in having a terrific 3rd catcher on the 40 in case either Lucroy or Vogt flounders.

 

But again, it's a hypothetical. Can't stress that enough.

[Boomer5]

Two catchers is plenty. Back up catchers are cheap and plentiful.

[TJseven7]

They are cheap and plentiful but Pina played roughly 50% of the time last year. I'd still see him as our 1 but if we spent the 7.5 mil on Lucroy instead of Gallardo Sogard Vogt I wouldn't complain. Luc hits rhp pretty well and he makes the C position much more solid. Sogard Gallardo Vogt don't do a whole lot of good. If we had luc instead of those 3 our only downgrade would be not having a backup SS. Perez hits LHP quite well and can play 2b.

 

I don't love having two question marks at 2b and an unpredictable C plus a defense poor catcher. I see no reason for Gallardo. I don't like giving "just guys" money that could be spent on a solid 1 year plug.

[pacopete4]

They are cheap and plentiful but Pina played roughly 50% of the time last year. I'd still see him as our 1 but if we spent the 7.5 mil on Lucroy instead of Gallardo Sogard Vogt I wouldn't complain. Luc hits rhp pretty well and he makes the C position much more solid. Sogard Gallardo Vogt don't do a whole lot of good. If we had luc instead of those 3 our only downgrade would be not having a backup SS. Perez hits LHP quite well and can play 2b.

 

I don't love having two question marks at 2b and an unpredictable C plus a defense poor catcher. I see no reason for Gallardo. I don't like giving "just guys" money that could be spent on a solid 1 year plug.

Gallardo's $2 million shouldn't stop us from doing anything we want to do. We should be able to afford Luc at $6-8M over two if that is what he dropped to. Almost silly not to do it really when you think about it. Unless he really wasn't liked while there or did leave on some bad terms.

[TJseven7]

Yeah 2 mil doesn't stop anything but its a lot easier to add luc for 6 to 8 mil when 5 isn't spent on vogt gallardo already. Little splashy depth deals add up. I liked the buy low on sogard and vogt... but I don't think you resign those guys. You just find 2018s version.

[clancyphile]

This argument essentially comes to Vogt vs Pina. One guy got cut last year because he'd been bad for a while and is terrible on defense at one of the most important defensive position. The other played great D with a great arm while hitting at a respectable clip consistently all year. I know which one I'd roll with and it's not very close. The only thing Vogt has going is being lefty but in a platoon like this you're going to have a closer to 50/50 thing going on more than a strict right lefty since you're not going to play Vogt every game vs rightys because he's just not good enough.

 

But even if you do think it's a close call I think this should be the deciding point. If Lucroy got hurt for an extended stretch, which one could play the normal C level of starts of 66-75% of games. That answer is Pina.

 

And this comes from someone who repeatedly defended Vogt at the end of last year over the constant bashing of his arm by people who acted like we're just going to give 11 stolen bases per game.

 

It may not even be Vogt vs. Pina.

 

Instead, imagine this:

Sign Lucroy (three years, $20 million).

 

Thames, Broxton, and Aguilar are dealt - maybe for lottery tickets, what have you.

 

Lineup:

cf: Cain

lf: Yelich

rf: Santana

3b: Shaw

1b: Braun

c: Lucroy

2b: Villar

ss: Arcia

pitcher

bench: Pina, Vogt, Perez, Sogard, Phillips

rotation: Anderson, Davies, Chacin, Woodruff, Suter

bullpen: Knebel, Hader, Jeffress, Logan, Albers, Barnes, Gallardo

[badger3034]

I don't like Suter being the 5th starter in that rotation. Need another pitcher. I'd flip flop Braun and Santana and arcia with the 9 hole, but that offense is stellar, probably top 5, if not 3 in the MLB. I love that bullpen too, lots of flexibility and guys that can go longer than 1 inning. I'm pretty sure I'm against trading Santana at this point as long as Braun can play 1B, that offense is just too good

 

I guess, even though he's already signed, I think I'd rather have another utility player instead of vogt if we got lucroy. He's literally just gonna be dead space on the bench if we have 3 catchers, he'd be lucky if he played 50 games, barring injuries of course

[TURBO]

Now we are at 3 years of Lucroy?

 

My gosh man...

[coolhandluke121]

 

It may not even be Vogt vs. Pina.

 

Instead, imagine this:

Sign Lucroy (three years, $20 million).

 

Thames, Broxton, and Aguilar are dealt - maybe for lottery tickets, what have you.

 

Lineup:

cf: Cain

lf: Yelich

rf: Santana

3b: Shaw

1b: Braun

c: Lucroy

2b: Villar

ss: Arcia

pitcher

bench: Pina, Vogt, Perez, Sogard, Phillips

rotation: Anderson, Davies, Chacin, Woodruff, Suter

bullpen: Knebel, Hader, Jeffress, Logan, Albers, Barnes, Gallardo

 

They wouldn't keep Vogt instead of Thames unless Thames has trade value, which I doubt he does considering guys like Lind, Morrison, and Duda are probably available for less than Thames makes right now.

 

It's all gonna be a moot point when they make a sneak attack trade for Realmuto though.

[clancyphile]

I don't like Suter being the 5th starter in that rotation. Need another pitcher. I'd flip flop Braun and Santana and arcia with the 9 hole, but that offense is stellar, probably top 5, if not 3 in the MLB. I love that bullpen too, lots of flexibility and guys that can go longer than 1 inning. I'm pretty sure I'm against trading Santana at this point as long as Braun can play 1B, that offense is just too good

 

I guess, even though he's already signed, I think I'd rather have another utility player instead of vogt if we got lucroy. He's literally just gonna be dead space on the bench if we have 3 catchers, he'd be lucky if he played 50 games, barring injuries of course

 

I figure Vogt gets 25 starts at 1B between Braun needing days off or DHing, he can also catch if you want to stack the lineup against a righty who has really bad splits. Figure he gets 30-35 starts all season. I'm thinking Braun can be a backup corner OF as well.

[clancyphile]

Now we are at 3 years of Lucroy?

 

My gosh man...

 

At a 6-7-7 breakdown, why not?

[RockCoCougars]

My guess is that Luc goes somewhere on a one year deal for more than we'd expect... Prob eight figures. It's not going to be the Brewers though, that bridge has been burned.

[Warning Track Power]

Well Wade Miley is rocking #20 so I would say Lucroy is no longer in play

[Staringjeremy]

Well Wade Miley is rocking #20 so I would say Lucroy is no longer in play

 

 

What’s his old number being used mean? Miley could be paid for luv to get it back or he could just choose a different number..

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Well Wade Miley is rocking #20 so I would say Lucroy is no longer in play

 

 

What’s his old number being used mean? Miley could be paid for luv to get it back or he could just choose a different number..

 

Blue writing = sarcasm

[TURBO]

I figure Vogt gets 25 starts at 1B between Braun needing days off or DHing, he can also catch if you want to stack the lineup against a righty who has really bad splits. Figure he gets 30-35 starts all season. I'm thinking Braun can be a backup corner OF as well.

 

Where is Thames in this assessment?

[badger3034]

I don't like Suter being the 5th starter in that rotation. Need another pitcher. I'd flip flop Braun and Santana and arcia with the 9 hole, but that offense is stellar, probably top 5, if not 3 in the MLB. I love that bullpen too, lots of flexibility and guys that can go longer than 1 inning. I'm pretty sure I'm against trading Santana at this point as long as Braun can play 1B, that offense is just too good

 

I guess, even though he's already signed, I think I'd rather have another utility player instead of vogt if we got lucroy. He's literally just gonna be dead space on the bench if we have 3 catchers, he'd be lucky if he played 50 games, barring injuries of course

 

I figure Vogt gets 25 starts at 1B between Braun needing days off or DHing, he can also catch if you want to stack the lineup against a righty who has really bad splits. Figure he gets 30-35 starts all season. I'm thinking Braun can be a backup corner OF as well.

 

What? Lol, so we have one fictional situation (that I'm hoping for) with Braun playing 1B, now Vogt is playing 1B, and currently the Brewers have 2 1B's on their roster in Aguilar and Thames. Vogt is a complete waste of space if you were to sign Lucroy, can someone tell me if his contract is guaranteed with a ML spot or not? Aguilar and Thames are 10000x better than playing Vogt at 1B, guy would be a complete waste of space on the bench with that roster

[Scott.fossum]

I don’t believe Vogt contract is guaranteed.

Tom Haudricourt article says it’s not

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.jsonline.com/amp/910839001

But spotrak site said it was quaranteed

http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/milwaukee-brewers/stephen-vogt-9421/

I am going with Haudricourt on this

[badger3034]

Thanks for the links, I'd tend to believe the local reporter on that one

[clancyphile]

I figure Vogt gets 25 starts at 1B between Braun needing days off or DHing, he can also catch if you want to stack the lineup against a righty who has really bad splits. Figure he gets 30-35 starts all season. I'm thinking Braun can be a backup corner OF as well.

 

Where is Thames in this assessment?

 

He and Aguilar are dealt - separate deals to try to land some prospects.

 

The Rays will need a DH to be an upgrade/replacement for Duda.

 

Imagine Thames going there for Joe McCarthy, a young LF/1B with good OBP skills and some power.

 

Aguilar could go to Seattle - maybe for James Pazos, a lefty reliever who racks up a lot of Ks. Might be a good 8th inning option.

[brewcrewdue80]

We are very late in this offseason to make a number of minor 1-1 trades. It takes 2 to Tango, Rays and M's could have long addressed filling the needyou suggest they would be filling.

[Boomer5]

We won't be getting much of anything for Thames or Auguilar. They are worth more to us a two headed 1B once we clear the OF mess than they would on the open market.

[Boomer5]

I must have been living in a cave but Maldonado won the golf glove at catcher.

 

Well at least we still have Bandy.

 

Facepalm

[pacopete4]

I must have been living in a cave but Maldonado won the golf glove at catcher.

 

Well at least we still have Bandy.

 

Facepalm

Yeah because our catching department really needs that mid .600’s OPS in the 7th hole of our lineup.