Mike Moustakas News

[Lathund]

I'm pretty sure Stearns sees Dubon (and to a lesser extent Spangenberg) as his next Hernan, a super-utility guy who would be much cheaper than Marwin. Doubt they have any plans to make a play there. I'd like to be proven wrong, of course.

 

Dubon would be a decent shout to potentially be a Perez, although I still think he has a chance to stick at SS/2B. I don't see Spangenberg in that role though, as you want your super utility guy to be able to play SS, as from a roster standpoint it's likely the best way to get a backup SS on the roster while not sacrificing too much offense.

 

I also view Marwin somewhat differently; I see him as more akin to Ben Zobrist or Chris Taylor. That is to say as a starting quality bat but with no set position, the kind of player who you plan on starting almost the majority of games even if it's in 4 different positions. Whereas Hernan Perez is someone you intend to be a bench player, who will fill in for injuries, enable double switches, act as a defensive substitute etc.

[TURBO]

Whereas Hernan Perez is someone you intend to be a bench player, who will fill in for injuries, enable double switches, act as a defensive substitute etc.

 

 

...or who starts games unnecessarily because the manager can't stop himself from doing so.

[pacopete4]

Whereas Hernan Perez is someone you intend to be a bench player, who will fill in for injuries, enable double switches, act as a defensive substitute etc.

 

 

...or who starts games unnecessarily because the manager can't stop himself from doing so.

 

Perez started like 80 games last year. I don't know how that compares to other super subs but it doesn't seem like much so this might be a bit of hyperbole.

[KeithStone53151]

Whereas Hernan Perez is someone you intend to be a bench player, who will fill in for injuries, enable double switches, act as a defensive substitute etc.

 

 

...or who starts games unnecessarily because the manager can't stop himself from doing so.

 

Perez started like 80 games last year. I don't know how that compares to other super subs but it doesn't seem like much so this might be a bit of hyperbole.

 

Chris Taylor is a super sub. Ben Zobrist in his prime was a super sub. Hernan Perez...not so much. There's a big difference between Perez and those 2 guys...primarily that they can hit.

[pacopete4]

...or who starts games unnecessarily because the manager can't stop himself from doing so.

 

Perez started like 80 games last year. I don't know how that compares to other super subs but it doesn't seem like much so this might be a bit of hyperbole.

 

Chris Taylor is a super sub. Ben Zobrist in his prime was a super sub. Hernan Perez...not so much. There's a big difference between Perez and those 2 guys...primarily that they can hit.

 

I get that he might not be what those guys are but he is our super sub. They like his defense. And his 80 starts still speaks to some of the overreaction to him being on the team. Myself included on that. If we could find an upgrade, I would be all for it but he does serve his purpose on our team.

[KeithStone53151]

I get that he might not be what those guys are but he is our super sub. They like his defense. And his 80 starts still speaks to some of the overreaction to him being on the team. Myself included on that. If we could find an upgrade, I would be all for it but he does serve his purpose on our team.

 

I like having Perez on the team, but I think he's a bit overused is all and I think you feel the same. Frankly, Perez should probably see some time in most games...but primarily in double switches and as a defensive replacement. And with his versatility, once he enters the game he should almost never leave the game. If everything is going right, he should almost never start. He really shouldn't be the 2nd guy in line to start at any position besides SS if there's an injury. At the moment, he's probably 2nd in line to start at SS and 3b...and is in a soft platoon with CS at 2b.

[coolhandluke121]

Instead of forking over a lot to get a redundant Moustakas, why not just sign Matt Davidson who has a career .804 OPS vs. LHP to use against LHP?

 

Because most pitchers are RHP's and the Brewers already have enough guys who hit RHP's better. I still don't understand why many are obsessed with getting better against LHP's at the expense of getting worse against RHP's, who are the overwhelming majority.

 

Braun, Aguilar, Perez, Pina, Cain, and Arcia are better against LHP's.

Shaw, Gamel (barely), Thames, Yelich, Grandal, and Spangenberg are better against RHP's.

 

Pina and Arcia actually have reverse splits and are better / much better versus RHP.

 

Less than 500 combined MLB plate appearances. Pina was better against LHP's in the minors, which is probably a much more representative sample. Also, Arcia's splits are actually pretty even overall throughout his professional career, and his MLB tOPS+ actually leans ever so slightly better against LHP's. Also, pointing out their recent splits just proves my point about how their struggles against LHP's were a fluke last year.

 

Besides, even two borderline cases doesn't come close to diminishing the larger point. It doesn't make sense to prioritize how you hit LHP's any more than they have. There are about 3 times as many RHP's. It's more than worth it to add a good LHB like Moustakas even if it means having to start one guy who can't hit LHP's well. You can move that guy down the order and he might even get as many pa's against RHP relievers as he does against the LHP starter in the same game anyway.

[TURBO]

Whereas Hernan Perez is someone you intend to be a bench player, who will fill in for injuries, enable double switches, act as a defensive substitute etc.

 

 

...or who starts games unnecessarily because the manager can't stop himself from doing so.

 

Perez started like 80 games last year. I don't know how that compares to other super subs but it doesn't seem like much so this might be a bit of hyperbole.

 

Starting 80 games is too much for him...

 

This is why I said what I said.

[coolhandluke121]

I get that he might not be what those guys are but he is our super sub. They like his defense. And his 80 starts still speaks to some of the overreaction to him being on the team. Myself included on that. If we could find an upgrade, I would be all for it but he does serve his purpose on our team.

 

I like having Perez on the team, but I think he's a bit overused is all and I think you feel the same. Frankly, Perez should probably see some time in most games...but primarily in double switches and as a defensive replacement. And with his versatility, once he enters the game he should almost never leave the game. If everything is going right, he should almost never start. He really shouldn't be the 2nd guy in line to start at any position besides SS if there's an injury. At the moment, he's probably 2nd in line to start at SS and 3b...and is in a soft platoon with CS at 2b.

 

I don't disagree about his ability, but how is it realistic to have him on the 25 as a utility guy and not be the primary back-up at multiple positions even if everyone is healthy? Especially if you are one of the people saying they should often carry 13 pitchers? The numbers just don't work out at all. There are 8 positions to back up and only 4 back-ups. You can cover outfield with one back-up, but catcher takes one and only one of those spots. That leaves 2 players to back-up 4 infield spots. Who are you signing to be ahead of Perez at all 4 of them?

[KeithStone53151]

I get that he might not be what those guys are but he is our super sub. They like his defense. And his 80 starts still speaks to some of the overreaction to him being on the team. Myself included on that. If we could find an upgrade, I would be all for it but he does serve his purpose on our team.

 

I like having Perez on the team, but I think he's a bit overused is all and I think you feel the same. Frankly, Perez should probably see some time in most games...but primarily in double switches and as a defensive replacement. And with his versatility, once he enters the game he should almost never leave the game. If everything is going right, he should almost never start. He really shouldn't be the 2nd guy in line to start at any position besides SS if there's an injury. At the moment, he's probably 2nd in line to start at SS and 3b...and is in a soft platoon with CS at 2b.

 

I don't disagree about his ability, but how is it realistic to have him on the 25 as a utility guy and not be the primary back-up at multiple positions even if everyone is healthy? Especially if you are one of the people saying they should often carry 13 pitchers? The numbers just don't work out at all. There are 8 positions to back up and only 4 back-ups. You can cover outfield with one back-up, but catcher takes one and only one of those spots. That leaves 2 players to back-up 4 infield spots. Who are you signing to be ahead of Perez at all 4 of them?

 

That's a very good point. I guess theoretically, it would be best to have guys in AAA ready to fill in. At 3b for example, if Shaw went down...it would be best to have Erceg ready to get called up and fill in and be better than Perez. I understand it's completely unrealistic to have a better guy at every spot. Perez will probably have to be the best backup option at SS and 2b at minimum...and possibly 3b. He'll probably be the 3rd best option at every other position besides pitcher.

 

There is an additional argument that Dubon will be ready to steal Perez job from him at some point this year...and Perez will be off the roster and completely replaced by Dubon to open 2020.

[clancyphile]

I don't disagree about his ability, but how is it realistic to have him on the 25 as a utility guy and not be the primary back-up at multiple positions even if everyone is healthy? Especially if you are one of the people saying they should often carry 13 pitchers? The numbers just don't work out at all. There are 8 positions to back up and only 4 back-ups. You can cover outfield with one back-up, but catcher takes one and only one of those spots. That leaves 2 players to back-up 4 infield spots. Who are you signing to be ahead of Perez at all 4 of them?

 

That's a very good point. I guess theoretically, it would be best to have guys in AAA ready to fill in. At 3b for example, if Shaw went down...it would be best to have Erceg ready to get called up and fill in and be better than Perez. I understand it's completely unrealistic to have a better guy at every spot. Perez will probably have to be the best backup option at SS and 2b at minimum...and possibly 3b. He'll probably be the 3rd best option at every other position besides pitcher.

 

There is an additional argument that Dubon will be ready to steal Perez job from him at some point this year...and Perez will be off the roster and completely replaced by Dubon to open 2020.

 

I don't quite buy that. Perez's positional flexibility has been a 75 on the 20-80 scale, IMO. I'd try to sign him to some king of extension (4 years, $12 million). He's not just a supersub for double switches, cover for an injury, etc. He lets the Crew keep 13 pitchers on their roster with that flexibility and serves as a 14th pitcher.

[coolhandluke121]

Yeah, he's pretty valuable. I mean obviously I'm biased, but then again I think you could argue that we don't have metrics for measuring his value. WAR probably punishes versatility in the sense that a guy like Perez is compared to 3B's and OF's for his innings there, and WAR certainly doesn't account for the value of roster flexibility. I don't think it even pretends to. If they measured the statistical significance of the double-switches and all that, I bet Hernan would be seen as a much more valuable guy.

 

As for his number of appearances, obviously we're all hoping everyone stays healthy and they can minimize his appearances, but they absolutely need him and therefore have to keep him sharp. I'm fine with how they used him last year.

[TURBO]

Jon Heyman of Fancred reports that the Padres are considering free agent Mike Moustakas.

 

And Moustakas comes at the recommendation of his former teammate and current Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer. The Padres have emerged as a potential suitor for Manny Machado, but Moustakas will come cheaper and might also be more realistic. The 30-year-old was better defensively in 2018 while batting .251/.315/.459 with 28 homers and 95 RBI in 152 games between the Royals and Brewers. The Phillies and White Sox are among the clubs who have been linked to Moustakas in recent weeks. Of course, Machado is also a potential fit with those clubs.

 

Source: Jon Heyman on TwitterJan 29 - 11:17 AM

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Rosenthal says that a reunion between the Brewers and Moose seems inevitable.

 

While Moose is limited as a hitter, he has great power, and might be able to put up 35-40 HRs playing half his games in Miller Park. It would be my hope, though, that he might be willing to sacrifice some of that power to get that average and OBP up a bit. If we could get a .260-.265 average, .315 OBP and 30 HRs out of him, that would make me very happy. This move would likely push Shaw to 2B against righties, and Spangenberg to San Antonio.

[coolhandluke121]

Don't care about Shaw at 2B and "too many LHB's" as I think those are not as much of a downside as some people suggest. This is the infielder solution I wanted all along, assuming he's much cheaper than Marwin Gonzalez. He's just better and/or younger than most of the other options that were available, and probably cheaper. As long as Shaw's okay with it, this would replace Perez/Spangenberg with Moose in the 7-hole. They still have too many 5-7 type hitters and not enough true top of the order guys, but that's a damn deep lineup if you think about it. Moose is also a great clubhouse fit, and I think chemistry is a small but important part of their success.

[KeithStone53151]

It really depends on cost, but I wouldn't hate this move. Yes we run into a problem if Hiura comes up and rakes in June/July, but our lineup will be ridiculously deep all season. We can even afford an infield injury without really skipping a beat.

 

I also want to add, I think the hope is that many of our AAA guys that have fallen out of favor have big years specifically for the goal of trading some of them away. Not Hiura, not Dubon...but maybe Brown, maybe Erceg, maybe Grisham. We seem relatively set at most positions for the forseeable future, even moreso if we sign Moustakas for something like 3/27. Any of those upper minors guys having a big season would probably make them trade bait.

[adambr2]

Don't care about Shaw at 2B and "too many LHB's" as I think those are not as much of a downside as some people suggest. This is the infielder solution I wanted all along, assuming he's much cheaper than Marwin Gonzalez. He's just better and/or younger than most of the other options that were available, and probably cheaper. As long as Shaw's okay with it, this would replace Perez/Spangenberg with Moose in the 7-hole. They still have too many 5-7 type hitters and not enough true top of the order guys, but that's a damn deep lineup if you think about it. Moose is also a great clubhouse fit, and I think chemistry is a small but important part of their success.

 

I'd say they were definitely a downside in the NLCS. We just didn't have the RH bats to match up well against the LH pitching that LA threw at us. A lot of that was Schoop not panning out. Braun and Aguilar are pretty iffy as to what we'll get in 2019, so hopefully adding Grandal will help quite a bit.

 

I'm not against Moose, it's just not my favorite option there comparing to Marwin. You'll still have to decide against any LHP which one you want to plug in for a bad matchup.

[coolhandluke121]

 

I'd say they were definitely a downside in the NLCS. We just didn't have the RH bats to match up well against the LH pitching that LA threw at us. A lot of that was Schoop not panning out. Braun and Aguilar are pretty iffy as to what we'll get in 2019, so hopefully adding Grandal will help quite a bit.

 

I'm not against Moose, it's just not my favorite option there comparing to Marwin. You'll still have to decide against any LHP which one you want to plug in for a bad matchup.

 

Well, I did say there wasn't as much downside as some people suggest. I know there is some, but I think the benefits far outweigh that. Matching up with the staffs of Chicago and LAD is thinking way too far ahead IMO. You have to get there in the first place, and more LHB's helps you do that because you will face far more RHP's throughout the year.

 

I also think there was a flukey quality to their struggles against LHP's. I see no reason they shouldn't be able to hit them well. And I'd take Marwin too, but I think he will get 2-3 times as many years and 3-4 times as much guaranteed money.

[PDCBalla]

One thing this does is it makes the need for Huira to come up at any point during the season a moot point. Now if Keston continues to rake in AAA this may be a move that allows the Brewers to trade one of the first baseman at the deadline for any assets and then move Shaw to first base. This signing could also mean a trade of Keston for a big time pitcher as well, though I don't see that happening.

[HiAndTight]

 

I'd say they were definitely a downside in the NLCS. We just didn't have the RH bats to match up well against the LH pitching that LA threw at us. A lot of that was Schoop not panning out. Braun and Aguilar are pretty iffy as to what we'll get in 2019, so hopefully adding Grandal will help quite a bit.

 

I'm not against Moose, it's just not my favorite option there comparing to Marwin. You'll still have to decide against any LHP which one you want to plug in for a bad matchup.

 

Well, I did say there wasn't as much downside as some people suggest. I know there is some, but I think the benefits far outweigh that. Matching up with the staffs of Chicago and LAD is thinking way too far ahead IMO. You have to get there in the first place, and more LHB's helps you do that because you will face far more RHP's throughout the year.

 

I also think there was a flukey quality to their struggles against LHP's. I see no reason they shouldn't be able to hit them well. And I'd take Marwin too, but I think he will get 2-3 times as many years and 3-4 times as much guaranteed money.

 

I guess it depends on what Moose gets, but I think it's just as likely that he too(Marwin) overplayed his hand in the market a bit. He's a great fit here because he's versatile, but he is still a pretty mediocre offensive player.

 

I guess if Moose takes a 1 year 8 million dollar deal I'd agree with your figures, but at 29 with ST'ing coming up pretty quickly, I don't think he's getting a huge deal. Isn't Bregman injured to start the year? Or at least injured right now and likely to be limited during ST'ing?

 

I wonder what the chances are that he ends up back in Houston for another year and then comes back at 30 and tries it again.

[coolhandluke121]

If Moose only gets 1/$8m, I'm pretty confident Gonzalez gets 3/$30m or more. I wouldn't be surprised if he's holding out for a little too much, but look what Lowrie, Murphy, and LeMahieu got. Gonzalez has to have much better offers than that IMO. He's much younger and more versatile. He's not very consistent, but neither are the aforementioned 3. Murphy is the only consistent one of the bunch, but he's the oldest and was the worst of the 3 last year.

[KeithStone53151]

 

I'd say they were definitely a downside in the NLCS. We just didn't have the RH bats to match up well against the LH pitching that LA threw at us. A lot of that was Schoop not panning out. Braun and Aguilar are pretty iffy as to what we'll get in 2019, so hopefully adding Grandal will help quite a bit.

 

I'm not against Moose, it's just not my favorite option there comparing to Marwin. You'll still have to decide against any LHP which one you want to plug in for a bad matchup.

 

Well, I did say there wasn't as much downside as some people suggest. I know there is some, but I think the benefits far outweigh that. Matching up with the staffs of Chicago and LAD is thinking way too far ahead IMO. You have to get there in the first place, and more LHB's helps you do that because you will face far more RHP's throughout the year.

 

I also think there was a flukey quality to their struggles against LHP's. I see no reason they shouldn't be able to hit them well. And I'd take Marwin too, but I think he will get 2-3 times as many years and 3-4 times as much guaranteed money.

 

LHP would definitely be a concern of mine if we get Moose...especially considering Grandal is much better against RHP...but Aguilar and Schoop were a big part of our struggles against LHP. I'm expecting Braun to have a better season, and Aguilar to at least be a bit better than his 2nd half version in the low 700s. Also factor in no more Schoop and Hiura/Dubon/Perez as options at least against LHP(Hiura everyday)...we should be better. All else fails, we find a RH version of Granderson at the deadline to solely mash lefties.

[Roderick]

I don't think we are at the stage where we can assume playoffs and are looking at playoff matchups. So, if we can kill righties and righties are ~70?% of the starting pitching, I will take that.

 

If Hiura rakes, he can come up in June and get all the lefty starts for Shaw and Moose (Shaw slides over) and then be the main PH on the bench. He could probably get a few starts for Aguilar if they give him some reps at 1B down in the minors.

 

But I don't see Moose signing for $8M/1 YR. Even if it just because he would have to swallow he didn't take the one year $15M option a few months ago from us. If he doesn't get a decent deal and he and his agent misjudeged his value two years in a row.......

[brwrsfan]

I don't think we are at the stage where we can assume playoffs and are looking at playoff matchups. So, if we can kill righties and righties are ~70?% of the starting pitching, I will take that.

 

If Hiura rakes, he can come up in June and get all the lefty starts for Shaw and Moose (Shaw slides over) and then be the main PH on the bench. He could probably get a few starts for Aguilar if they give him some reps at 1B down in the minors.

 

But I don't see Moose signing for $8M/1 YR. Even if it just because he would have to swallow he didn't take the one year $15M option a few months ago from us. If he doesn't get a decent deal and he and his agent misjudeged his value two years in a row.......

 

Then he should fire his agent. Though I doubt the Brewers pick up their end of the option anyways. At some point, it becomes "do I want to play this year or not"? If the market just isn't there an 8 million is all he can get, then that's better than the alternative option of not playing. Sooner or later he's going to have to make that decision. There's always a chance that a loser in the Machado sweepstakes comes after him or that someone gets hurt in ST, but a LOT of teams have already filled their infield spots. He may very well have to take whatever he can get, even if it hurts his pride/ego a bit (like he did last year). But he 100% should fire his agent IMO.

[adambr2]

I don't think we are at the stage where we can assume playoffs and are looking at playoff matchups. So, if we can kill righties and righties are ~70?% of the starting pitching, I will take that.

 

If Hiura rakes, he can come up in June and get all the lefty starts for Shaw and Moose (Shaw slides over) and then be the main PH on the bench. He could probably get a few starts for Aguilar if they give him some reps at 1B down in the minors.

 

But I don't see Moose signing for $8M/1 YR. Even if it just because he would have to swallow he didn't take the one year $15M option a few months ago from us. If he doesn't get a decent deal and he and his agent misjudeged his value two years in a row.......

 

The option was mutual and I don't think the Brewers were ever going to exercise their end of it, which I think they probably quietly informed Moose's camp of. I don't think Moose turning it down was really anything more than a formality, whether of not he actually would have exercised his end with mutual interest.