2B : 2019 News

[TURBO]

How exciting...

 

Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Sunday that he envisions second base being a timeshare between Hernan Perez, Cory Spangenberg and Tyler Saladino.

 

That's assuming the team doesn't sign or trade for an established second baseman prior to Opening Day (or acquire a third baseman and move Travis Shaw back to second). Spangenberg would seem to be in line to serve on the long side of a platoon since he bats left-handed, although it probably wouldn't be a strict platoon. Whoever starts the season at second base for the Brew Crew will likely just be keeping the seat warm for top prospect Keston Hiura, who could take over the spot sooner rather than later. Milwaukee also has infield prospect Mauricio Dubon as an eventual option.

 

Source: Tom Haudricourt on Twitter

Jan 27 - 3:15 PM

[pacopete4]

Did anyone ask him whether Braun was still willing to play there or not?

[clancyphile]

Did anyone ask him whether Braun was still willing to play there or not?

 

[sarcasm]That would be third base.[/sarcasm]

 

Seriously, they'd get more offense by using Aguilar at third, Shaw at second, and Thames at first.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Pretty disappointing that a World Series-contending team has seemingly decided to go this route. They could have, and should have done better in my opinion. I'm not asking for All Stars at every position, but there were plenty of solid options out there, several of which signed very affordable contracts. I don't have much faith that Spangenberg and Perez can provide even replacement-level production ... and to tell you the truth, I am doubtful that Hiura is going to be anymore than replacement level if/when he comes up. I really, really hope I'm wrong on this one, but I just don't have much faith in that spot being productive. If Arcia starts cold again, they will looking at the same problem they had much of last year, with a poor-hitting lower third of the order as the Achilles Heel.

[LouisEly]

Boston won the World Series last year with arguably the worst (and according to B-R.com, the 2nd worst WAA at) 2B production in the majors... as well as the worst C production in the majors.

[amt2138]

What would be the consensus if Hiura destroys spring training and the Brewers give him the 6 year $24 million with three team options contract that the Phillies gave Kingery last year?

[clancyphile]

What would be the consensus if Hiura destroys spring training and the Brewers give him the 6 year $24 million with three team options contract that the Phillies gave Kingery last year?

 

I'd want at least ten years, and would be willing to go $50 million.

[amt2138]

What would be the consensus if Hiura destroys spring training and the Brewers give him the 6 year $24 million with three team options contract that the Phillies gave Kingery last year?

 

I'd want at least ten years, and would be willing to go $50 million.

 

With the 3 team option years Kingery's goes for 9 years and $66 million

[tdcarney22]

Boston won the World Series last year with arguably the worst (and according to B-R.com, the 2nd worst WAA at) 2B production in the majors... as well as the worst C production in the majors.

 

Offensively, the Brewers 3 worst spots last year were C, SS, 2b in no particular order according to the same chart on B-R's website. Here are my thoughts on each for 2019....

 

- C: made significant upgrade signing Grandal and moving Pina to b/u role

- 2B: we need to think about how many at-bats were taken by guys like Nick Franklin, Brad Miller, Eric Sogard, Nate Orf, Schoop (he did nothing for us).....i'm telling you, Perez/Spangenberg will do better than the #'s put up by this collection. we batted a collective .231 on ALL AB's from the 2b spot in the lineup...Perez/Cory are better than that.

- SS: DS is obviously banking on Arcia starting 2019 like he ended 2018. the team needs that. if he doesnt, we have a combination of saladino, perez, doubon, huira to fill the 2b/ss hole if we option Arcia again..

 

Now I know there will be some regression on statistics from our OF and probably Aguilar as well, so if we get better at C, SS, 2B, itll negate or get close to evening out the regression and make us successful.

 

On top of all that, i think this pitching staff is going to be scary underrated in 2019. Burnes to the rotation, Nelson's confidence at On-Deck, Woodruff's September/October success just make me believe this staff of "out-getters" is going to far exceed expectations!

[JosephC]

Pretty much what I expected. I was hoping to sign Logan Forsythe as a cheap bridge to Hiura, but Stearns went Spangenberg instead. While I'm not a big fan of Spangenberg, his lefty bat does balance out the 25 man roster a bit better. The smart move was not to throw any significant money at second base, as they not only seem high on Hiura but Dubon as well. The only thing that worries me about the Perez/Spangenberg combo is that Counsell (while he's done such a great job) just can get all kinds of stupid when slotting Perez in a batting order.

 

Adding Grandal should help the lineup in a pretty significant way.

 

Arcia has to step up and prove he has a major league bat. I don't think he'll get a full three months this year if he starts off with a .190/.240/.280/.520 slash line.

 

Only thing I really would like to see the Brewers do for the rest of the off-season is to sign a cheap lefty swingman because they are woefully thin with lefty arms on the 40 man roster.

 

If they do have 10 million left on the budget, I'd rather them save it to make moves easier at the deadline. Outside of being short a lefty arm, I feel really good about the roster. Rather save the money now and use it towards the deadline when a team need becomes more evident. Who knows what injury will occur or which player will have a bad year?

[ebmackenzie]

Boston won the World Series last year with arguably the worst (and according to B-R.com, the 2nd worst WAA at) 2B production in the majors... as well as the worst C production in the majors.

 

Really glad someone else brought this page of B-R.com up...and someone else just added to this idea by posting gains at C and Arcia doing better at SS.

 

For all the talk about 2B getting a makeover...the most gains that can be made are at C, SS, and pitching.

 

Take away Dan Jennings 71 GR, reduce Taylor Williams' GR number/add Guerra & Claudio in relief and this negative WAA (one slot above avg) in the pen should go up. A full season of Burnes and Woodruff should help wherever they are slated to pitch from. JNelson starting from Day 1 could push lesser arms to AAA and further improve the SP WAA too.

 

Gamel led a decent group of SEA PH as well.

 

There are improvements that have been made to a playoff team...let's see if our middle infielders are 18/30 and 28/30 again this year without any further trades.

[zagski6]

Saw DS going through the Milwaukee airport yesterday and asked him who would be the starting 2B if the season were to start today. He asked me who I thought it should be. I said a platoon of Perez/Spangenberg. He said yup! BUT he also emphasized that's IF they don't sign anyone.

[homer]

I'm pretty confident they have Hiura penciled in for a spot once at some point unless he totally tanks at AAA.

[TURBO]

Did anyone ask him whether Braun was still willing to play there or not?

 

[sarcasm]That would be third base.[/sarcasm]

 

Seriously, they'd get more offense by using Aguilar at third, Shaw at second, and Thames at first.

 

but no defense.

 

STOP.

[JosephC]

Boston could get away with having one or two holes in the lineup much easier than Milwaukee. The "top-level" hitting on that club is much better than the Brewers. If one goes by OPS, Yelich would have been the third best hitter in that lineup (pretty unbelievable but true).

 

Top four qualifiers on each club, sorted by OPS.

 

Betts = .346/.438/.640/1.078

Martinez = .330/.402/.629/1.031

Bogaerts = .288/.360/.522/.883

Benintendi = .290/.366/.465/.830

 

Yelich = .326/.402/.598/1.000

Aguilar = .274/.352/.539/.890

Shaw = .241/.345/.480/.825

Cain = .308/.395/.417/.813

 

There is no shame in having a lineup led by Yelich/Aguilar/Shaw/Cain, but what Boston had put together last year was just ridiculous. Not really a surprise that they were the World Series champs after being able to throw out firepower like that on a daily basis.

[Fear The Chorizo]

The combo of what they have to play 2b is far better than what they had on opening day 2018...and that's without Hiura taking a 40 man roster spot, something that will happen sometime in 2019 if he is deserving of a callup.

 

They have upgraded at 2b this offseason, many just don't realize it yet.

[FVBrewerFan]

The combo of what they have to play 2b is far better than what they had on opening day 2018...and that's without Hiura taking a 40 man roster spot, something that will happen sometime in 2019 if he is deserving of a callup.

 

They have upgraded at 2b this offseason, many just don't realize it yet.

 

Exactly. Most of the names I've seen tossed around in the Transactions threads wouldn't even be an improvement over Spangenberg/ Perez platoon. It's almost impossible for them not to be an improvement of at least 50 points in OPS. Throwing Saladino's name in there scares me a bit, but it is still January.

 

I'm sure they're pretty confident Hiura and/or Dubon will be ready sooner rather than later, so why spend more money at that position. All that said, there's always a caveat that Stearns will bring in another IF for the right price, and especially if said player has options.

[Yolk]

Meanwhile Oakland got Profar for what we gave up to get a lefty reliever with an 85-mph fastball...

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

The combo of what they have to play 2b is far better than what they had on opening day 2018...and that's without Hiura taking a 40 man roster spot, something that will happen sometime in 2019 if he is deserving of a callup.

 

They have upgraded at 2b this offseason, many just don't realize it yet.

 

Really? You must really like Spangenberg, because its hard for me to see "far better" than what they had in 2018, which was Villar (who had a very good season to his name) and Sogard (who was good in 2017) along with Perez. If you are comparing Villar straight up to Spangenberg, I would have to think you would take Villar. Villar at least had MLB success on his resume.

[JosephC]

Last year the Perez/Spangenberg combination slashed .244/.294/.375/.669 which is terrible by almost any measure. Last year Villar slashed .261/.315/.377/.693 with the Brewers (does not include the Baltimore numbers). According to ESPN the slash line for MLB second basemen was .254/.316/.396/.712. Compare that up with team stats across the league, and the Perez/Spangenberg combo would rank 25th in OBP and 23rd in OPS when stacked against other team's second basemen. Unless the unexpected happens, it is a bottom-of-the-barrel offensive pairing the Brewers have penciled in.

 

It's pretty clear that they expect Hiura sometime late May and are just don't want to throw money into the position at this time. If late May happens and Perez/Spangenberg are doing their usual thing with the bats, and Hiura gets hurt or is slumping, then Saladino/Dubon are the next insurance policy to get them through the next 4-6 weeks until they can trade for another second baseman....assuming that Saladino/Dubon also can't get the job done. I'm not a fan of the Perez/Spangenberg combo, but clearly they are just a bridge to fill the gap until the Brewers are finished playing Super Two games with Hiura.

[RollieTime]

Meanwhile Oakland got Profar for what we gave up to get a lefty reliever with an 85-mph fastball...

 

On top of Oakland trading away their Competitive Balance Round A selection for Profar, they also moved a bullpen piece that they had 5 years of control of (Emilio Pagan), prospect Eli White who hit very well in AA last season, and $750,000 in International Bonus Allotments.

[FVBrewerFan]

Last year the Perez/Spangenberg combination slashed .244/.294/.375/.669 which is terrible by almost any measure. Last year Villar slashed .261/.315/.377/.693 with the Brewers (does not include the Baltimore numbers). According to ESPN the slash line for MLB second basemen was .254/.316/.396/.712. Compare that up with team stats across the league, and the Perez/Spangenberg combo would rank 25th in OBP and 23rd in OPS when stacked against other team's second basemen. Unless the unexpected happens, it is a bottom-of-the-barrel offensive pairing the Brewers have penciled in.

 

True, but that ignores how the Brewers will use Perez/Spangenberg, vs LHP, RHP respectively:

 

.277/.304/.479/.783

.261/.332/.393/.725 (in a pitchers park BTW)

 

Every reason to believe this platoon can put up above average numbers at 2B, and .750ish is actually very realistic.

[jjfanec]

Boston could get away with having one or two holes in the lineup much easier than Milwaukee. The "top-level" hitting on that club is much better than the Brewers. If one goes by OPS, Yelich would have been the third best hitter in that lineup (pretty unbelievable but true).

 

Top four qualifiers on each club, sorted by OPS.

 

Betts = .346/.438/.640/1.078

Martinez = .330/.402/.629/1.031

Bogaerts = .288/.360/.522/.883

Benintendi = .290/.366/.465/.830

 

Yelich = .326/.402/.598/1.000

Aguilar = .274/.352/.539/.890

Shaw = .241/.345/.480/.825

Cain = .308/.395/.417/.813

 

There is no shame in having a lineup led by Yelich/Aguilar/Shaw/Cain, but what Boston had put together last year was just ridiculous. Not really a surprise that they were the World Series champs after being able to throw out firepower like that on a daily basis.

 

The positive for the Brewers is you are also adding Grandal to that list - .815 last year - and likely hoping Braun to be closer to 2017 - .823.

 

If the Brewers have 6 of 8 starters slashing over .800 we will win a lot of games. 2b and SS being average would be more than enough

[pacopete4]

If you can get .271/.331/.423/.754 (his career split vs. RHP) out of Spangenberg, this works out just fine. Perez has always been okay against LHP so the platoon can work well for the Brewers.

[jerichoholicninja]

I still would't discount them signing/trading for a 2B or 3B and moving Shaw to 2B again. For free agents Marwin Gonzales is the big one that will cost years and money but there looks to be some cheap, one year options available yet. Deitrich, Solarte, Forsythe, and Josh Harrison probably aren't going to be getting much for very long at this point.