Dominic Smith as 1B of the future?

[JosephC]

I do appreciate you guys throwing in the negative feedback on Familia. I still think he's the way I'd want to go, but certainly can understand why people wouldn't want to take that risk.

[Eye Black]

Here's a question: which would be cheaper to acquire, three years of Trey Mancini or five years of Dominic Smith, and which would you rather have? I think Mancini would be significantly cheaper, and I also have significantly more confidence in Mancini hitting well.

I fairly confident Mancini would cost much more in terms of acquisition value/cost as compared to Dom Smith.

[SRB]

Here's a question: which would be cheaper to acquire, three years of Trey Mancini or five years of Dominic Smith, and which would you rather have? I think Mancini would be significantly cheaper, and I also have significantly more confidence in Mancini hitting well.

I fairly confident Mancini would cost much more in terms of acquisition value/cost as compared to Dom Smith.

 

Maybe, though the Orioles gave away Villar for nothing and Mancini sort of has a similar offense-only profile to Narvaez who we just got for very little.

 

If Smith is very cheap then I'm all on board with give him a shot.

[wntrtxn21]

Here's a question: which would be cheaper to acquire, three years of Trey Mancini or five years of Dominic Smith, and which would you rather have? I think Mancini would be significantly cheaper, and I also have significantly more confidence in Mancini hitting well.

I fairly confident Mancini would cost much more in terms of acquisition value/cost as compared to Dom Smith.

 

Maybe, though the Orioles gave away Villar for nothing and Mancini sort of has a similar offense-only profile to Narvaez who we just got for very little.

 

If Smith is very cheap then I'm all on board with give him a shot.

 

Villar was scheduled to make somewhere around $9-10M. Mancini about $600,000. The O's were cutting costs. They don't come cheaper than Mancini. They absolutely would not give him away. The cost in prospects would be far higher for Mancini than Smith.

[SRB]

Villar was scheduled to make somewhere around $9-10M. Mancini about $600,000. The O's were cutting costs. They don't come cheaper than Mancini. They absolutely would not give him away. The cost in prospects would be far higher for Mancini than Smith.

 

Mancini is arbitration eligible this season and already projected to make about $5.7 million.

 

I certainly don't think he will be cheap, my point was just that I assumed Dominic Smith would be overpriced because of his prospect pedigree, and if both players take a moderate return I'd prefer Mancini. But if Smith is much cheaper that evens things out.

[LincolnDD]

Now if they want to throw in JD Davis instead of Lowrie with Familia as the bad contract coming over I'd be good with that. They just picked up Jake Marisnick, BTW, which makes Davis even more expendable.

 

I think the Marisnick deal makes it more likely they keep Davis. Conforto will be in RF everyday, Davis/Marisnick/Nimmo will rotate in the other two spots.

 

Certainly seems like Smith is incredibly redundant and blocked on the Mets roster. He's such a logical target for Milwaukee.

 

Yeah, 100% agree. They're really left-handed when it comes to impact bats, so keeping Davis in a platoon role at the very least makes sense. There's no real role for Smith.

[JohnBriggs12]

My only issue with Smith is that he's still somewhat of a work in progress. His 2018 season both at AAA and the majors was very underwhelming and while he bounced back in 2019, it was in a small sample of 200 or so PA. That being said, it's probably worth the chance with the price being reasonable given the alternatives like Mitch Moreland have decent but unspectacular track records and the Brewers don't have quality at the position in the minors.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

My only issue with Smith is that he's still somewhat of a work in progress. His 2018 season both at AAA and the majors was very underwhelming and while he bounced back in 2019, it was in a small sample of 200 or so PA. That being said, it's probably worth the chance with the price being reasonable given the alternatives like Mitch Moreland have decent but unspectacular track records and the Brewers don't have quality at the position in the minors.

 

I personally would rather dream on a player like Smith putting up solid results, but with a low floor, than go with a "safe" option like Justin Smoak, who's likely to give you a .220 average, a lot of strikeouts and maybe 30 dingers. I kinda hope that Thames is still on the radar as well. I could see a potential Braun/Thames platoon if the team signs a corner outfielder.

[Austin Tatious]

I don’t think the Brewers are having a fire sale, nor are they slashing payroll just to save money. Stearns tells us repeatedly he’s trying to build a sustainable model to stay good year after year. My sense is his issue with Moose and Grandal is he doesn’t want to be on the hook for $35 M between them in 2022-2023 when they’d be mid-30s. He’s keeping an eye on the big picture.

 

Mark A has also lived through some moves that hurt the long term, including contracts for solid but unspectacular pitchers (Suppan, Looper, Lohse, Wolf) and also having dealt off prospect capital for a short term benefit. Both of those approaches can compromise the long term competitiveness of the franchise.

 

The Brewers of now will trade prospects, but more for guys with longer term control like Yelich and even Narvaez this year. They would pay big for a player post-30 but only a short term deal (Grandal and Moose last year).

 

Matt Arnold came out of Tampa and they’ve followed this approach too. I think that is what you’re seeing play out as opposed to penny pinching.

[KeithStone53151]

My only issue with Smith is that he's still somewhat of a work in progress. His 2018 season both at AAA and the majors was very underwhelming and while he bounced back in 2019, it was in a small sample of 200 or so PA. That being said, it's probably worth the chance with the price being reasonable given the alternatives like Mitch Moreland have decent but unspectacular track records and the Brewers don't have quality at the position in the minors.

 

He absolutely is a bit unproven and a bit of a gamble. If Smith had back to back 900+ ops seasons, for starters the Mets might not want to trade him...but also he would cost a ton more in trade.

[reillymcshane]

 

I personally would rather dream on a player like Smith putting up solid results, but with a low floor, than go with a "safe" option like Justin Smoak, who's likely to give you a .220 average, a lot of strikeouts and maybe 30 dingers.

This is exactly my take.

 

We can get proven 'okay' results on the open market. But we are the kind of club that needs to take some risks here and there.

 

Smith is by no means a sure thing. Otherwise, he'd cost a ton to get. But right now, he's stuck as a reserve - and that won't change with a 50-HR guy ahead of you.

 

Now is the time to get him - assuming the club thinks he's worth it.

[BrewBalls]

 

I personally would rather dream on a player like Smith putting up solid results, but with a low floor, than go with a "safe" option like Justin Smoak, who's likely to give you a .220 average, a lot of strikeouts and maybe 30 dingers.

This is exactly my take.

 

We can get proven 'okay' results on the open market. But we are the kind of club that needs to take some risks here and there.

 

Smith is by no means a sure thing. Otherwise, he'd cost a ton to get. But right now, he's stuck as a reserve - and that won't change with a 50-HR guy ahead of you.

 

Now is the time to get him - assuming the club thinks he's worth it.

I also agree you have to roll the dice on the potential impact player versus the slightly above average veteran who can be had at the trade deadline every year for an reasonable cost.

 

Now as for taking back Familia or Lowrie. I can see pros and cons for taking on both players. Lowrie adds versatility, costs less and could fill a major hole left by Moose’s departure. Familia could regain form and be part of this season’s three headed monster, costs more which reduces the cost of adding Smith and is also an area in need of veteran depth. So I will leave this decision to Stearns and his team since they do a far superior job of analysis than myself.

[RollieTime]

 

I personally would rather dream on a player like Smith putting up solid results, but with a low floor, than go with a "safe" option like Justin Smoak, who's likely to give you a .220 average, a lot of strikeouts and maybe 30 dingers.

This is exactly my take.

 

We can get proven 'okay' results on the open market. But we are the kind of club that needs to take some risks here and there.

 

Smith is by no means a sure thing. Otherwise, he'd cost a ton to get. But right now, he's stuck as a reserve - and that won't change with a 50-HR guy ahead of you.

 

Now is the time to get him - assuming the club thinks he's worth it.

 

Totally agree. He showed enough at the big league level to get a serious look. I don’t see any reason he couldn’t put up numbers similar to Thames if given a full time gig. If he does that while making the minimum and we get 5 years of control, plus the higher ceiling, sign me up!

[Eye Black]

Per Andy Martino’s SNY report...

 

The Mets could be looking to move Dom Smith during MLB's Winter Meetings.

 

New York is "actively talking to teams" about the 24-year-old 1B/LF, SNY's Andy Martino reported Wednesday.

 

Smith slashed .282/.355/.525 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI in 89 games throughout the 2019 season.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Per Andy Martino’s SNY report...

 

The Mets could be looking to move Dom Smith during MLB's Winter Meetings.

 

New York is "actively talking to teams" about the 24-year-old 1B/LF, SNY's Andy Martino reported Wednesday.

 

Smith slashed .282/.355/.525 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI in 89 games throughout the 2019 season.

 

He would be a fun get. Would pretty much assure that Thames would not be back, though, I imagine. Smith would be an ideal platoon-mate with Braun at 1B, and could fill in in the OK if necessary as well.

[pacopete4]

Please get Smith. A shot of youth was needed with this team and he could be a big part of that.

[RollieTime]

Would love to bring Smith in. Get a strong young core of Urias, Hiura, Smith, Woodruff, Lauer, Hader, Peralta, Burnes, and Narvaez to a point. It would be a lot of fun to see what the young guys could do while also competing for a playoff spot.

[Eye Black]

Ken Rosenthal said yesterday that the Rangers and Mets had spoken about a trade involving both Smith and Lowrie.

 

This morning Jon Heyman reporting: Mets still working to try to offload a contract, likely Jed Lowrie

 

It’s known that the A’s are also interested in a reunion with Lowrie.

[SRB]

Who wouldn't want Lowrie? Yeah he's old but he wasn't bad last year just injured, and before that he was elite. I hope the Brewers are in on this.

 

If we landed Smith at 1B and Lowrie at 3B I think we would need a strong backup like Wilmer Flores though. Lots of risk in those two and no real internal replacements.

[Luke99]

If we can get Lowrie and Smith for a low prospect cost I would be all over it.

 

We would need a solid backup at 1B/3B to guard against Lowrie's injuries but these 2 would fit nicely into the lineup

[ThisIsMyCrew]

If we can get Lowrie and Smith for a low prospect cost I would be all over it.

 

We would need a solid backup at 1B/3B to guard against Lowrie's injuries but these 2 would fit nicely into the lineup

 

Between Arcia/Urias/Lowrie and think we’d be okay on the left side. May not be the power numbers but could be solid.

[brewmann04]

if they swing that type of trade I expect David to add a starter via FA

[Warning Track Power]

Ken Rosenthal said yesterday that the Rangers and Mets had spoken about a trade involving both Smith and Lowrie.

 

This morning Jon Heyman reporting: Mets still working to try to offload a contract, likely Jed Lowrie

 

It’s known that the A’s are also interested in a reunion with Lowrie.

IMO, it is these types of moves the Brewers should be targeting. Buying a prospect (Smith) to fill a long term hole by taking on money (Lowrie), who in this case, also temporarily fills a hole at 3B. Smith-Hiura-Urias is a nice start to a long term IF.

 

Couple that move with taking on additional salary in a trade for Price, Benintendi & Chavis and the Brewers might have something in 2020 without having to move Hader.

[mlloyd10]

Jed Lowrie has 1 year left - Easy trade to make

[KeithStone53151]

A trade was posted in that trade values site that has 11 like and 1 dislike.

 

Brewers get - Lowrie, Smith, 2 million

Mets get - Gray

 

Thoughts? I personally like this move, and I could see how you could sell this on the Mets side. Pairing the bad contract with Smith to get rid of most of the salary, and get a recent high draft pick with very high ceiling in return.