The next find from KBO/Japan...

[clancyphile]

With the success of the Thames signing... do you think the Brewers look to KBO or Japan to bring in some reinforcements?

 

Could there be a pitcher who could, like Thames, come in at a reasonable price, but be a huge contributor?

 

Are those places the places to find help at catcher or shortstop?

[pacopete4]

Has Thames been a success? I mean we are paying him a decent chunk of change, he gets hurt often, and he is very streaky. Defense isn’t all that great either.

[MrTPlush]

2 WAR in two years is a success? Low bar...

[reillymcshane]

Has Thames been a success? I mean we are paying him a decent chunk of change, he gets hurt often, and he is very streaky. Defense isn’t all that great either.

I'd say Thames has been fine. He has obviously been supplanted by Aguilar, but when he's played, he's produced (for the most part). The injuries are troublesome.

 

I'm guessing he's a reserve 1B/DH/PH next year. A power bat on the bench is always nice. And if anything happens to Aguilar, I'm comfortable running him out there (at least against right handers).

[adambr2]

Yep, I'd say Thames has given us what we paid for. A success? Well, that's relative, but I certaintly wouldn't call it a disappointment.

 

I guess if there is disappointment, a lot of it stems from the first month here when it looked like he was going to be an MVP caliber sensation.

[clancyphile]

Posting an OPS of .790 or above is nothing to sneeze at.

 

Thames did have some injury problems this year, so I think he's a very good candidate to rebound - and taking his extension may not be a bad idea.

 

But the Crew, I think, has a very good chance to pick up some help in the rotation from Japan or Korea. They've got some contacts already...

[jerichoholicninja]

Considering the utter disaster some guys who came from Japan or Korea have been, he's not a failure. How successful you feel he's been is totally debatable but he's not a failure by any means.

[Madhawk23]

Yeah, I think the lack of playing time (and the shuffling between RF and 1B) is probably starting to catch up with him at this point in the season. And, it isn't going to get any better over the next week here with all of the lefties that we are set to face. He's always been very streaky, but his timing seems way off right now - and I think we saw that again last night as he just couldn't get around in time on that Strop FB and ended up popping it up to CF. Would be great if he has at least 2-3 more big home runs in his bat yet this year.

[3and2Fastball]

Thames is a success from a scouting standpoint in terms of a player who has contributed positively at the MLB level.

 

To answer clancyphile's question, I would love for the next Japan/KBO success to be a pitcher or two....I have long thought that international free agency could serve to close the gap more for small market teams competing against teams with bigger budgets. I'd love for the Brewers to be more aggressive in going after players from the Dominican Republic, Cuba & Japan.

[sveumrules]

Former Brewer Dennis Sarfate has put up some pretty impressive numbers in Japan.

 

Lead the league in saves three straight seasons from 2015-17 & was named MVP with a record 54 saves in 2017.

 

Looks like he recently signed an extension covering the 2019-21 seasons though, so he's probably in NPB for good at this point.

[A Swing and A Drive]

Has Thames been a success? I mean we are paying him a decent chunk of change, he gets hurt often, and he is very streaky. Defense isn’t all that great either.

 

 

I couldn't tell if you were talking about Braun or Thames here.

 

At least they are both nice platoon options/bench bats I guess.

[cesser000]

Has Thames been a success? I mean we are paying him a decent chunk of change, he gets hurt often, and he is very streaky. Defense isn’t all that great either.

 

Wasn't it said last year when he hit all those home runs the first month that they had already gotten the full value of his contract just from that production alone? Or am I not remembering that right?

 

And he's making $5 million this season - obviously that's nothing to sneeze at, but the average MLB salary is about $4.5 million, so no big whoop. Braun and Thames have similar stats in a lot of areas, and Braun is making 4 times as much...

 

Thames - 235 ABs, .789 OPS, 107 OPS+, .7 WAR, 16 HRs

Braun --- 355 ABs, .767 OPS, 102 OPS+, .8 WAR, 15 HRs