Domingo Santana to the Mariners, Gamel and Zavolas to MKE

[RollieTime]

Seems to be a decent trade for the Brewers. Ground ball/line drive type of hitter that is a true spray hitter (33% pull, 37% center, 30% opposite). They are probably looking at him as a guy that can become more of a homerun hitter by changing his launch angle a little bit. If he maintains a .270 average and can become a 15-20 home run hitter, he will be very valuable. He could be a solid guy to platoon with Braun when he has his frequent days off or when an injury arises. Adding a solid lefty bat to hit in the 5 or 6 hole against righties isn’t a bad option.

 

I wonder if he could hit in the leadoff spot to allow Yelich to drop to third in the order? Brewers need a solid option to put at the top of the order in front of Yelich and don’t really have a solid option right now outside of Cain. Maybe Gamel is that guy.

[brewerfan82]

I'm a little disappointed that we weren't able to swing Domingo for a bigger piece, but he was out of options, behind three other outfielders on the big league roster, and not the greatest fit on the team as a 4th outfielder due to his limited defensive abilities. I trust DS did his due diligence in determining Domingo's market and in the end we get an extra year of control, an extra option, and a little more flexibility defensively. Not to mention adding another pitching nugget to the farm that DS likes. I'm also interested in seeing if moving from Seattle to Miller Park provides a boost in Gamel's stats as well.

 

All in all, it's hard to get too upset when we're nitpicking a 4th outfield spot and I think it's best to reserve some judgement until we see how this fits in with whatever else DS does with the roster this offseason, not to mention how all the players perform this year and beyond.

[Invader3K]

I think it was time to move on from Santana. Nothing against him, but I don't think he had a long term upside for our team. Gamel seems useful, and Zavolas might be another Stearns gem. We'll see.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

In addition to striking out 36% less often, "basically nothing" is also a better right fielder defensively than Santana. Of course, pointing out that defense matters and putting the ball in play is a good thing likely= Stearns worshiper.

 

Gamel - 90 games in RF the last 2 seasons (7 runs saved)

Santana - 199 games in RF the last 2 seasons (-8 runs saved)

 

Gamel - 11 OF assists the last 2 seasons (1757 innings)

Santana - 5 OF assists the last 2 seasons (1645 innings)

 

FYI, it doesn't hurt to do more than a cursory look at shallow batting stats.

[3and2Fastball]

We don't have a ton of LH bats. Yelich, Shaw, Thames and previous to Gamel, who else? Hiura is a RH hitter. This move gives the lineup more balance. You don't want to sit Braun vs LHP's, but on the multiple days that he does need to be out, Gamel is probably a better choice over Santana vs RHP's.

 

Thames really isn't an outfielder. Braun isn't durable. I do like Santana a lot, loved his clutch hitting in the postseason, but I can understand the trade.

 

Btw: is that accurate, that we have control of Gamel for 4 seasons?

[brewerfan82]

We don't have a ton of LH bats. Yelich, Shaw, Thames and previous to Gamel, who else? Hiura is a RH hitter. This move gives the lineup more balance. You don't want to sit Braun vs LHP's, but on the multiple days that he does need to be out, Gamel is probably a better choice over Santana vs RHP's.

 

Thames really isn't an outfielder. Braun isn't durable. I do like Santana a lot, loved his clutch hitting in the postseason, but I can understand the trade.

 

Btw: is that accurate, that we have control of Gamel for 4 seasons?

I believe so: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/seattle-mariners/ben-gamel-18392/

 

This will be his last pre-arby year.

[trwi7]

We don't have a ton of LH bats.

 

We don't have very many RH bats either.

[josh]

Stearns loves them options, boy.

[pacopete4]

Man, it really stinks that we have come to the idea if you like a trade Stearns makes, you’re a worshipper.

 

Put me on the side of this is a decent trade for Santana. You get a pretty solid LH bat against RHP that is flexible in the OF. Plus you get the wild card of a pitcher. Solid move since Santana had no where to go really and never got there defensively.

[wallus]

Positives: Depth (who will be AAA that can come up if there are injuries?), Salary (should be over a million saved), and Control (one more season). The happiest guy should be Broxton as his odds of making the team went up tremendously.

 

Now watch Stearns do something like signing Pollock.

[adambr2]

We are/were just fine with LH bats. Our best bats are LH. For RH bats we have Lorenzo Cain and that is about it. Maybe Aguilar, but big if after his 2nd half drought.

 

The trade does not bother me, but I don't understand the continuous clamoring by some for LH bats. We have enough lefty bats. If anything we could use a RH stick.

 

Basically the reason we didn't go to the World Series is that the strength of LA was left handed power arms and we didn't have the RH bats to counter.

[Eye Black]

[sveumrules]

Domingo Santana 2018 265/328/412 (97 wRC+) 32.8 K%

Basically Nothing 2018 272/358/370 (108 wRC+) 20.8 K%

 

Career MLB:

 

Santana - 113 wRC+

Gamel - 100 wRC+

 

And Santana is a year younger.

 

Yes. Santana is a better hitter than Gamel. Mostly on account of his massive edge in power. His power is the loudest tool involved in the deal. At the same time, his inability to make contact is also the biggest red flag involved in the deal. That is a mitigating factor.

 

When you consider that Gamel has a much better hit/contact tool & is a better baserunner/fielder, that makes up for a fair amount of that 13 point wRC+ edge.

 

Add in that being lefty, costing less & having an option makes him a better fit for the roster, plus the fact he's outperformed Domingo as recently as last year, and then throw in a pitching prospect the FO clearly likes & I guess it's just hard for me to quantify that as basically nothing.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I thought we pretty much established after last offseason that power-hitting low contact corner OFers didn't have much value? Especially those who are poor defenders.

 

Gamel seems fun ... he's the kind of guy that will probably be more popular than he should be in Wisconsin. The pitcher is a wild card as a potential reliever that will move quickly through the system. Santana probably has the most upside of the three of these players, but his swing-and-miss tendencies are pretty annoying. Gamel will probably give us a few Brady Clark-esque years as a solid role player and fan favorite/glue guy. Not the greatest trade, but could be worse, that's for sure.

[3and2Fastball]

We are/were just fine with LH bats. Our best bats are LH. For RH bats we have Lorenzo Cain and that is about it. Maybe Aguilar, but big if after his 2nd half drought.

 

The trade does not bother me, but I don't understand the continuous clamoring by some for LH bats. We have enough lefty bats. If anything we could use a RH stick.

 

Basically the reason we didn't go to the World Series is that the strength of LA was left handed power arms and we didn't have the RH bats to counter.

 

Certainly a valid point of view. The Cubs have a LH dominant pitching staff, too. I get it. Still, MLB is something like 70% RH Starting Pitchers, and Stearns specifically mentioned wanting to get another LH bat. Now, maybe he is just saying that and the main reasons he wanted Gamel is because of being able to option him and the lower cost/more control.

 

adambr, I always enjoy your point of view. You are right, we need more RH bats, too... In general we would benefit from more offense all around if we are going to take that next step. I think this is a small step in that direction. As much as I liked Domingo he really was a bit of a liability defensively, too

[Point Beer Is Best]

Oh man, he is Mat Gamel's brother. Hopefully he'll work out a bit better.

 

I was really hoping his name was spelled “Benn” to balance out Mat.

[Eye Black]

The trade does not bother me, but I don't understand the continuous clamoring by some for LH bats. We have enough lefty bats. If anything we could use a RH stick.

Specifically with the corner outfield I think the addition of a left-handed bat makes sense. Braun’s strength is obviously in facing LHP. Now you have a lefty hitting corner OF option against RHPs.

 

Also, part of the clamoring is in lockstep with Stearns frequent comments. His direct quote after this trade, “We like the left-handed bat in our ballpark and our division.”

[Jaylyn]

Did Santana profile as a Stearns player? No, but to trade him now is a mistake. The solution was easy, move Jesus this year, sell high, move Braun to first and soft platoon with Thames. Let Santana man RF and build his value back up and move him next year. Instead, we will be discussing next year is this trade on the same level as the Khris Davis trade.

[jerichoholicninja]

Domingo did not start a single game in September and saw all of 8 innings in the field after rosters expanded. His bat wasn't good enough to crack the starting lineup and his defense isn't good enough to take up a bench spot on a 25 man roster. The 2019 outfield is probably going to be exactly the same as 2018, so basically the Brewers already decided last year they had no use for him.

 

As for Gamel, I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the same spot as Domingo is now at this time next year. He'll most likely be out of options and doesn't seem like a guy you try to make fit on your roster if you're forced to.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Did Santana profile as a Stearns player? No, but to trade him now is a mistake. The solution was easy, move Jesus this year, sell high, move Braun to first and soft platoon with Thames. Let Santana man RF and build his value back up and move him next year. Instead, we will be discussing next year is this trade on the same level as the Khris Davis trade.

 

You have WAY more faith in Domingo Santana turning it around than I do.

[splitterpfj]

I get it, I see the point, and it looks like a fair deal .... all of which makes me sad.

 

It just feels like Domingo should be more than this.

[Eye Black]

Did Santana profile as a Stearns player? No, but to trade him now is a mistake. The solution was easy, move Jesus this year, sell high, move Braun to first and soft platoon with Thames. Let Santana man RF and build his value back up and move him next year. Instead, we will be discussing next year is this trade on the same level as the Khris Davis trade.

If the Brewers were in the midst of a rebuild that makes more sense. Domingo’s potential range of outcomes seems too great to take on the risk associated with hoping he builds additional value. They reportedly shopped him aggressively last winter and it didn’t appear he was being perceived as overly valuable across the league even on the heels of a breakout season. If you are in the business of valuing certainty and wins in the present, rostering Domingo is a risky proposition. If he started out 2019 anything like the player he resembled for the first three months of 2018 it would be a borderline disaster and he would basically be stuck on the roster. Instead of having flexibility it would become the equivalent of maneuvering the season with a 24-man roster.

 

I agree that Domingo’s upside is likely higher than Gamel’s, but I think his downside also has the potential to crater to a greater extent than Gamel. And if Gamel doesn’t perform to expectations he can be shipped to San Antonio.

[Thurston Fluff]

I like Gamel - played all three OF spots in majors, plus some 1B.

 

Real interesting is how he picked up his walk rate from 2017 to 2018. That is a sign he can make improvements.

 

Kid brother of Mat Gamel.

 

The real question of how this deal turns out falls on Zavolas. If, like Suter, he emerges as a solid MLB contributor, the Crew wins the trade.

 

Plus, this also means Thames or Aguilar will be on the move. Can't see the Crew keeping both with Gamel on the roster.

 

I see Gamel as the swing man between AAA and the majors with Thames as the guy who plays when Aguilar or Braun don't. You might be right though. I could also see Thames being dealt. I wouldn't mind if he was. But I also see the value of two guys who have had more success in recent years at the ML level than Gamel does. Why not use them and have Gamel as a legit MLB type backup in AAA if needed? It doesn't hurt to have another year of service time by him sitting in AAA if he's not needed.

[502 to Right]

Domingo Santana 2018 265/328/412 (97 wRC+) 32.8 K%

Basically Nothing 2018 272/358/370 (108 wRC+) 20.8 K%

 

Career MLB:

 

Santana - 113 wRC+

Gamel - 100 wRC+

 

And Santana is a year younger.

 

Yes. Santana is a better hitter than Gamel. Mostly on account of his massive edge in power. His power is the loudest tool involved in the deal. At the same time, his inability to make contact is also the biggest red flag involved in the deal. That is a mitigating factor.

 

When you consider that Gamel has a much better hit/contact tool & is a better baserunner/fielder, that makes up for a fair amount of that 13 point wRC+ edge.

 

Add in that being lefty, costing less & having an option makes him a better fit for the roster, plus the fact he's outperformed Domingo as recently as last year, and then throw in a pitching prospect the FO clearly likes & I guess it's just hard for me to quantify that as basically nothing.

 

I will agree with you that my use of the phrase "basically nothing" was misguided. I'll walk that back.

 

I still don't like the deal because I like having Santana in the hole in case the Brewers are bitten by the injury bug in the outfield and I think over a longer period of time he will prove more valuable than Gamel.

 

For the record, I do like Stearns a lot.

[RollieTime]

Did Santana profile as a Stearns player? No, but to trade him now is a mistake. The solution was easy, move Jesus this year, sell high, move Braun to first and soft platoon with Thames. Let Santana man RF and build his value back up and move him next year. Instead, we will be discussing next year is this trade on the same level as the Khris Davis trade.

 

I think this is still a possibility. Aguilar definitely didn’t help himself in the second half to build his trade value, but he is still a candidate to be moved this offseason. The lineup last year was still very inconsistent. I feel like Stearns is going to move a guy or two that started for us down the stretch, Aguilar being one of them, in hopes of continuing to cut down strikeouts and get personnel that will help manufacture more runs.

 

Maybe Braun will be moving to first mostly full time and Gamel will be an everyday guy in the outfield to start the season. If he struggles, he can be sent to the minors.

 

Figuring out what the Brewers are going to do next is nearly impossible since Stearns has taken over. Most of his transactions involve guys we didn’t even discuss on here. There is still plenty of time between now and the start of Spring Training to shake up the roster.