Rangers sign Asdrubal Cabrera - 1/$3.5M

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Hiura won't crack the opening day 25, but he could be up as early as mid-April. That's all the longer they have to keep him down to essentially gain a 7th service year out of him. Obviously if that's the plan, they don't really need anything more dramatic than a Perez/Spangenberg platoon for 2 weeks.

 

I'm not sure about mid-April, but I've been saying all along that Hiura would be up as soon as they lock up that extra year of control. I did expect them to sign a versatile infielder to man 2B until his call-up, that would then be a super-sub thereafter. But now I think you might be right about getting by with the P/S platoon to bridge the gap.

[StearnsFTW]

Hiura won't crack the opening day 25, but he could be up as early as mid-April. That's all the longer they have to keep him down to essentially gain a 7th service year out of him. Obviously if that's the plan, they don't really need anything more dramatic than a Perez/Spangenberg platoon for 2 weeks.

 

I'm not sure about mid-April, but I've been saying all along that Hiura would be up as soon as they lock up that extra year of control. I did expect them to sign a versatile infielder to man 2B until his call-up, that would then be a super-sub thereafter. But now I think you might be right about getting by with the P/S platoon to bridge the gap.

 

That player may very well be Dubon.

 

The more I think about this, the more I think they're expecting Hiura to be their 2B this year.

[502 to Right]

I'm betting Hiura isn't on the 25 man as of the All-Star break.

[jerichoholicninja]

It is clear that the Brewers having been working over the FA 2B market very hard this offseason. If Keston is the plan it's Plan Z.

I think it's clear that Machado is Plan A... Brewers just waiting for the right time to surprise us all...

 

I can see it now ... Attanasio is on stage Sunday at Brewers On Deck, and suddenly Uecker comes out pushing a wheelchair with a blanket over the occupant's head. Attanasio pulls off the blanket to reveal ... Manny Machado in a Brewer jersey! A course of cheers and jeers rain down while Attanasio and Manny give the crowd the stink eye ...

 

Executive Producer: Vince McMahon

 

It actually would make sense from a PR perspective to sign Machado to take away from the AmFam disaster. (blue?)

[JohnBriggs12]

Of course the shortest line could simply be drawn to Keston Hiura taking over for good June 1 and internal options manning 2b in April / May. It could be that simple now that they spent $18.5 million on Grandal.

 

It is clear that the Brewers having been working over the FA 2B market very hard this offseason. If Keston is the plan it's Plan Z.

 

If they were working the 2B position hard, they would have signed one. I think they are fine with Perez and Spangenberg sharing the position to start the year. If those two aren't producing and Hiura gets off to a hot start in SA, there will be pressure to bring him up. But Perez and Spangenberg are solid major league players who combined should hit 20 HR and hit .260.

[502 to Right]

Of course the shortest line could simply be drawn to Keston Hiura taking over for good June 1 and internal options manning 2b in April / May. It could be that simple now that they spent $18.5 million on Grandal.

 

It is clear that the Brewers having been working over the FA 2B market very hard this offseason. If Keston is the plan it's Plan Z.

 

If they were working the 2B position hard, they would have signed one. I think they are fine with Perez and Spangenberg sharing the position to start the year. If those two aren't producing and Hiura gets off to a hot start in SA, there will be pressure to bring him up. But Perez and Spangenberg are solid major league players who combined should hit 20 HR and hit .260.

 

Clearly a platoon of Flotsom and Jetsom until a June call up of Keston Hiura was not plan A. At the winter meetings Stearns and Counsell stated that shoring up 2B was a priority. The conspiracy theorists can claim this was a disinformation campaign but I'm not having it.

[clancyphile]

Of course the shortest line could simply be drawn to Keston Hiura taking over for good June 1 and internal options manning 2b in April / May. It could be that simple now that they spent $18.5 million on Grandal.

 

It is clear that the Brewers having been working over the FA 2B market very hard this offseason. If Keston is the plan it's Plan Z.

 

If they were working the 2B position hard, they would have signed one. I think they are fine with Perez and Spangenberg sharing the position to start the year. If those two aren't producing and Hiura gets off to a hot start in SA, there will be pressure to bring him up. But Perez and Spangenberg are solid major league players who combined should hit 20 HR and hit .260.

 

I think they looked over the free agent market hard, and made the decisions that gave them upgrades, but also realized they have in-house options.

 

They have Dubon as an option at second.

They have a Perez/Spangenberg platoon as an option at second.

They have Shaw as an option at second (with Aguilar or Moustakas at third).

They have Saladino as an option at second.

They have Hager as an option at second.

They have Hiura as the eventual option at second.

[OnTheBlack]

 

I think they looked over the free agent market hard, and made the decisions that gave them upgrades, but also realized they have in-house options.

 

They have Dubon as an option at second.

They have a Perez/Spangenberg platoon as an option at second.

They have Shaw as an option at second (with Aguilar or Moustakas at third).

They have Saladino as an option at second.

They have Hager as an option at second.

They have Hiura as the eventual option at second.

 

 

Should this be in blue? I don't see any plausible way that the Brewers would ever intentionally plan on using Aguilar at 3rd base outside of an extreme situation. This is like having an emergency QB. He's there in an emergency...but if you actually plan to use him there....well, that's just a bad plan to put it as gently as I can. I'd rather use Braun at 3rd than Aguilar.

 

I also don't see Hager as a viable option. About 5 guys would have to fail or get hurt before he should get a crack at it and at that point, Hiura will be up and if he fails out of the gate, then they can always find a team that's struggling and make a trade at that point.

[OnTheBlack]

 

Clearly a platoon of Flotsom and Jetsom until a June call up of Keston Hiura was not plan A. At the winter meetings Stearns and Counsell stated that shoring up 2B was a priority. The conspiracy theorists can claim this was a disinformation campaign but I'm not having it.

 

 

I still don't see how them saying shoring up 2nd makes it "clear" that they've been working over the 2nd base market hard.

 

As someone else said, if they were as desperately working to find someone to play 2nd, they could have found someone. I think they view the top 2B prospect in baseball as a slightly more viable option than "option Z."

[And That]

Someone resurrect the Ryan Braun to Practice at 2B thread.

[bill hAll Star]

This comes with limited data (I'm surprised he's only 33) but watching Asdrubal move around, I have minimal interest. I guess $3.5 million is a decent risk to take, but if you watch him play, he looks like he's one step from falling apart or one more notch of regression from being out of baseball.

 

His K% and BB% numbers got worse last year, he's relatively slow and breaking down, and he wasn't a great OBP player as it was. I could see a huge dropoff soon.