Trade for catcher David Freitas, Corey Knebel to 60-day IL

[djoctagone]

the brewers have acquired catcher david freitas from seattle for minor leaguer sal biasi.

 

freitas has been optioned to san antonio. it appears that he will burn his second option in a matter of days.

 

corey knebel has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

[TURBO]

why?

 

Seems like a move just to make a move.

[JosephC]

Nottingham caught last night and Gosewisch caught today, there was no report that I saw of a Nottingham injury. Maybe Stearns just isn't comfortable with the AAA catching and thought an upgrade was needed?

[Oxy]

Another trade in the works?

[TURBO]

Nottingham caught last night and Gosewisch caught today, there was no report that I saw of a Nottingham injury. Maybe Stearns just isn't comfortable with the AAA catching and thought an upgrade was needed?

 

Ok, but if that is the case, Freitas is no upgrade.

 

This is a meh deal...

[pacopete4]

Maybe we are dealing Grandal.

[adambr2]

I would say that 90% of moves probably just seem like moves to make moves, but there's always some underlying reason. Sal Biasi was a nothing burger, to put it bluntly. "Organizational depth" would be the nicer term.

 

Freitas is a really nice defensive catcher who started to emerge offensively last season in AAA. Whether that's real or not, who knows. His upside is probably to be the next Manny Pina, but that's ok. He's just injury insurance.

 

It's probably not a real strong vote of confidence in Jacob Nottingham.

[JosephC]

Gosewisch is just a terrible hitter. Was awful at the MLB level and was very mediocre at AAA as well. Freitas has been very bad offensively as a MLB hitter, but he has 700+ plate appearances in AAA and has posted a slash line of .295/.374/.425/.800. Nottingham has an excellent offensive season in Colorado but is off to a slow start this year (.174/.321/.261/.582). If Freitas brings a plus glove, there is a pretty decent chance Stearns would see him as a better option than Nottingham/Gosewisch if Grandal or Pina suffer an injury.

[josh]

2020 third string? Or second if Nottingham or Pina can’t hack?

[brewmann04]

Nottingham off to a slow start at the plate but maybe an upgrade over tuffy

[dlk9s]

But can he pitch?

[FVBrewerFan]

why?

 

Seems like a move just to make a move.

 

That's what Kratz and Voght moves seemed like, and both ended up helping them win games. At the very least, they needed catching depth in AAA and gave up as close to nothing as possible. Not every trade is a Yelich type trade.

[KeithStone53151]

One thought, maybe Freitas is notably good with pitchers and they think he would be beneficial to some of our AAA pitchers? Just spitballing. Again, hard to dislike a move that seems like nothing for nothing. I'm sure Stearns has his reasons, he's definitely earned the benefit of the doubt.

[MrTPlush]

Pretty simple in my opinion. Brewers wanted a better 3rd string catcher with experience. If we need someone to come up and play back-up once a week you want a guy who is a vet and likely a good defender. Nottingham doesn't fit that mold at all. Or they simply are getting him for AAA purposes for AAA pitchers.

 

Freitas>Gosewisch is likely what the Brewers see.

[ebmackenzie]

Heard two rumors from others...1 ) the Cubs had catcher depth issues and DiPoto asked if Stearns wanted to beat the Cubs best offer before he moved him and 2) Biasi, who we traded to get this catcher, had some issues and he were just moving the pitcher off the roster in a trade vs a dump.

 

Take it with a grain of salt.

The observations above about Tuffy's hitting and Nottingham's poor start are solid theories as well.

[JohnBriggs12]

My take on it is that they are worried that Pina isn't adjusting well to his limited playing time and Freitas has been productive in a limited role in AAA.

[MrTPlush]

I don't think the Brewers could possibly care any less how Pina hits in his brutally limited playing time.

[adambr2]

Yeah, I don't really know if they could care less, but I very much doubt they are making trades based on a 13 AB sample from a backup catcher.

[gebc1997]

My hunch is that he is insurance for a longer term injury to Grandal or pina, especially pina. If he’s out for two months , they likely don’t want Nottingham getting 10 at bats a week riding the bench In Milwaukee and must not want to have to add Gosewich to the 40man roster. Plus he does have this year and next as option years. No real decision on him has to be made until 2021

[pacopete4]

Move Pina, pickup Swihart. /somewhat blue

[lynchmobster]

... pickup Swihart.....

Yes, I like this idea. Would Stearns do it? Are the Brewers "too good" to make a move like this anymore?

[Outlander]

Swihart is mentioned every year but is pretty bad both offensively and defensively with no options. Still prefer Pina.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Swihart's only value is in his positional flexibility. He's a switch hitter that you could pretty much throw anywhere on defense except probably SS. I just don't see how he'd fit the the current roster the way's its constructed, though.

[djoctagone]

last night, david freitas was activated from the injured list. he extended his hitting streak with the missions to 14 games and his on-base streak to 29 games.

[JohnBriggs12]

last night, david freitas was activated from the injured list. he extended his hitting streak with the missions to 14 games and his on-base streak to 29 games.

 

Too bad he won't be up until after the games started by Quintana and Hamels this weekend.