Mike Moustakas News

[DuWayne Steurer]

 

Aguilar/Shaw/Thames puts the best offense in the lineup, no question about it. No black holes (other than the risk of Arcia replicating the first half of 2018) aside from the pitcher.

 

cf: Cain

rf: Yelich

lf: Braun

2b: Shaw

3b: Aguilar

c: Grandal

1b: Thames

ss: Arcia

 

Where is the weak link in that lineup?

 

There's probably less than .00001% chance that the Brewers are having any internal discussions of Aguilar playing 3B on anything more than an emergency basis. Unlike us armchair managers, the Brewers brass have shown that they value defense, and the defensive metrics very highly. The numbers last year showed that. Aguilar at 3B full time, for even a month would be a hot mess.

 

It's no secret that you personally prefer lineups that get the most offensive pop at every position but the Brewers have shown that they absolutely value defense. That's why guys like Perez and Arcia have value to them. I think more than a few were surprised when they acquired Moustakas and shifted Shaw to second, but obviously they trusted their shift metrics (and Shaw) to at least hold the fort there, and he did just that.

 

Aguilar is not Shaw. Aguilar made a few nifty plays here and there, but putting him at 3rd for 6 weeks just isn't a solution. As HNW said, now you're downgrading defense at multiple positions. Shaw to 2nd to put Moose at 3rd wasn't a defensive downgrade at 3rd, because Moose was (allegedly) a solid 3rd baseman.

 

The Brewers need to be playing games to win them, not handcuffing their own opportunites by putting out suboptimal alignments. Their bullpen (and pitching overall) was so good last year partly because of the defense. Doing stuff like this is going to take a lot away from that.

[Humans Need Water]

I guess I was referring to what part would be the weak link. Not any players mentioned would scare me on a consistent basis.

Just don't need to see us sign moose, would rather leave Shaw at third and find someone to play second . Or sign moose and trade Shaw, one or the other , I know that batting average isn't the tell all , but it still can't be ignored.

As for eyeball test, I guess people can see what they want. To me Thames doesn't pass. Moose and Shaw offer a good argument. Just saying we have to many below .251 hitters

Absolutely BA can't be ignored but it should be never be used as a stand alone metric to tell one's story.

 

Regarding the 2nd part, sure, anybody can see what they want but that doesn't mean they know what they're looking at/for. Baseball is simple on the surface but ridiculously complicated underneath.

[rickh150]

 

Aguilar/Shaw/Thames puts the best offense in the lineup, no question about it. No black holes (other than the risk of Arcia replicating the first half of 2018) aside from the pitcher.

 

cf: Cain

rf: Yelich

lf: Braun

2b: Shaw

3b: Aguilar

c: Grandal

1b: Thames

ss: Arcia

 

Where is the weak link in that lineup?

 

There's probably less than .00001% chance that the Brewers are having any internal discussions of Aguilar playing 3B on anything more than an emergency basis. Unlike us armchair managers, the Brewers brass have shown that they value defense, and the defensive metrics very highly. The numbers last year showed that. Aguilar at 3B full time, for even a month would be a hot mess.

 

It's no secret that you personally prefer lineups that get the most offensive pop at every position but the Brewers have shown that they absolutely value defense. That's why guys like Perez and Arcia have value to them. I think more than a few were surprised when they acquired Moustakas and shifted Shaw to second, but obviously they trusted their shift metrics (and Shaw) to at least hold the fort there, and he did just that.

 

Aguilar is not Shaw. Aguilar made a few nifty plays here and there, but putting him at 3rd for 6 weeks just isn't a solution. As HNW said, now you're downgrading defense at multiple positions. Shaw to 2nd to put Moose at 3rd wasn't a defensive downgrade at 3rd, because Moose was (allegedly) a solid 3rd baseman.

 

The Brewers need to be playing games to win them, not handcuffing their own opportunites by putting out suboptimal alignments. Their bullpen (and pitching overall) was so good last year partly because of the defense. Doing stuff like this is going to take a lot away from that.

 

Aguilar played at 3B For 5 games last year. What did you see from those five games that makes you feel he cannot play there for 10 or 15 games? I'll agree that he seems like he really shouldn't play there regularly (body type, range), yet I haven't seen the evidence. Many thought it was crazy to move Shaw over too, but it worked out. I'm not saying Aguilar at 3B and Shaw at 2B should be long term solutions, but I haven't seen the negative yet of playing them in those positions even more, especially when we could get more pop in the lineup.

 

Get a lead, hand it to the pen, and sub them out late in the game.... And Aguilar made several nifty plays (including throws to 2B and over the shoulder catches) at 1B last year.

[mtsportsfan]

True , never said that batting average should stand alone metric, just that it shouldn't be dismissed ( never thought that you said that).

I think sometimes people can over think it too. Baseball really isn't as complicated as it made out to be. I know they have a advanced metric for everything. Wonder how they scouted before ?

[TooLiveBrew]

Locking this up. Per Ken Rosenthal, Moose has signed a 1-yr deal.to return to the Brewers.

 

Please continue any discussion in the MLB Forum thread: viewtopic.php?f=63&t=38129