Avi Garcia not extended QO - now a Free Agent 11/5/21

[adambr2]

I'm not a fan of this deal and think the Brewers will regret at the end of 2020. Too much money to fill a hole that didn't exist.

 

How many games do we realistically think Cain will be able to start in 2020?

 

Is anyone else besides Gamel really going to man CF when that happens?

 

I guess Yelich can play CF in a pinch, but I doubt they want Braun or Garcia out there.

[KeithStone53151]

Anyone know where the payroll stands at this point assuming it's $10 million for Garcia next year? I'm guessing somewhere in the $90-95 million range?

 

I have it at $96ish including opt outs for Grandal/Moose. I also did NOT factor in Lindblom's incentives, which can apparently make the deal max out over $18 million of the 3 years. I only factored in $3, sounds like could be $3 more per year...at least that's what I would assume.

[Matty V]

I'm not a fan of this deal and think the Brewers will regret at the end of 2020. Too much money to fill a hole that didn't exist.

 

I think it's fair to have doubts. I hope you stick around, and that Garcia plays well enough to serve you a helping of crow

 

 

I would love to be wrong in this case.

[Matty V]

I'm not a fan of this deal and think the Brewers will regret at the end of 2020. Too much money to fill a hole that didn't exist.

 

Overall, probably similar to Moose but younger. I think this is pretty solid.

 

Except Moose played 3B. Which is still a hole.

[owbc]

I'm not a fan of this deal and think the Brewers will regret at the end of 2020. Too much money to fill a hole that didn't exist.

 

How many games do we realistically think Cain will be able to start in 2020?

 

Is anyone else besides Gamel really going to man CF when that happens?

 

I guess Yelich can play CF in a pinch, but I doubt they want Braun or Garcia out there.

 

I assume that's where Gamel fits in as the 5th OF. But I'm guessing they see Garcia as insurance for CF as well.

[Brewcrewin07]

Market dictated it. These guys are flying off the shelves much earlier this year, and for better pay. There will be guys still available in January/February, but most of the bigger names have already found deals. Brewers risked having to fill holes with significant downgrades had they not jumped on board the FA bandwagon early.

 

This. Garcia appeared to be part of Stearns’ plan from early on. Think the market was hotter - both overall and for Garcia - than anticipated. But he was plan A and I don’t think Stearns was going to be denied here.

 

No it’s not Cole/Rendon/Strasburg money, but for those bemoaning how cheap Mark A is this offseason, here is an example of the Brewers loosening the pursestrings to get their guy.

 

Hold on a minute, "loosening" the purse strings for a player they signed for $10 per year?? That's not close to "loosening" the purse strings. It still likely means they will be a decent amount below total payroll of what they were last year.

[adambr2]

Market dictated it. These guys are flying off the shelves much earlier this year, and for better pay. There will be guys still available in January/February, but most of the bigger names have already found deals. Brewers risked having to fill holes with significant downgrades had they not jumped on board the FA bandwagon early.

 

This. Garcia appeared to be part of Stearns’ plan from early on. Think the market was hotter - both overall and for Garcia - than anticipated. But he was plan A and I don’t think Stearns was going to be denied here.

 

No it’s not Cole/Rendon/Strasburg money, but for those bemoaning how cheap Mark A is this offseason, here is an example of the Brewers loosening the pursestrings to get their guy.

 

Hold on a minute, "loosening" the purse strings for a player they signed for $10 per year?? That's not close to "loosening" the purse strings. It still likely means they will be a decent amount below total payroll of what they were last year.

 

They announced this is the last signing they will make this offseason?

[Ennder]

To me this says they lack confidence in Cain over the next 2 years more than they want to move away from Braun. Cain suddenly really looked his age in the 2nd half last year. I think a 4th OF on this team would get a lot of play even without factoring in some play at 1B for Braun.

 

Seems like a slight overpay but nothing too awful. Always nice to add depth.

[wibadgers23]

This is an interesting signing as we still need to fill 1B, 3B and maybe one more starting pitcher. I think we have about $30 million more to go to match last year's opening day payroll so should be interesting to see how everything shakes out going forward.

[markedman5]

I'm not a fan of this deal and think the Brewers will regret at the end of 2020. Too much money to fill a hole that didn't exist.

 

How many games do we realistically think Cain will be able to start in 2020?

 

Is anyone else besides Gamel really going to man CF when that happens?

 

I guess Yelich can play CF in a pinch, but I doubt they want Braun or Garcia out there.

 

Garcia can play some center .......started 12 games there last season

[BuckyBrewer61]

I'm not a fan of this deal and think the Brewers will regret at the end of 2020. Too much money to fill a hole that didn't exist.

 

It does fill a hole that does exist, though.

 

This moves Braun to 1B, and fills 40-50 games of OF at bats with a good hitter instead of Gamel.

 

They need bats, and this fills that need. Love their creativity in filling these holes, even if they did pay a lot.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I'm not a fan of this deal and think the Brewers will regret at the end of 2020. Too much money to fill a hole that didn't exist.

 

How many games do we realistically think Cain will be able to start in 2020?

 

Is anyone else besides Gamel really going to man CF when that happens?

 

I guess Yelich can play CF in a pinch, but I doubt they want Braun or Garcia out there.

 

They still have Tyrone Taylor too ... who is a very good defender in CF. Will be a phone call away if he doesn't make the team outright.

[Brewcrewin07]

They announced this is the last signing they will make this offseason?

 

No, but I'm willing to bet a VERY large sum of money this is their "big" FA signing for the year, in terms of AAV.

[patrickgpe]

I expected 3 years $21m. This is a lot.

Not picking on you, but just an observation.

 

people here and other places were complaining that we were going to be dropping payroll and "rebuilding" because the brewers weren't spending money and were dumping salary.

 

Now that they are spending money and filling holes people are complaining that the are spending too much. It is alot, but with how the market has been I don't think its too far out of line.

[owbc]

No, but I'm willing to bet a VERY large sum of money this is their "big" FA signing for the year, in terms of AAV.

 

In the words of the Dude...that's just like, your opinion, man.

[shanedog19]

Hard to get too bent out of shape for a 2 year deal, but this feels like an overpay to me.

[SRB]

[sarcasm]Brewerfan.net: Stearns is a cheapskate! Why won't he spend $300 million on Gerrit Cole?

 

Brewerfan.net: Ouch, Kevin Gausman money for an everyday OF who had a 4.5 WAR season a couple years ago? Bit too expensive.[/sarcasm]

 

[KeithStone53151]

From a price point, this deal isn't that much higher than I expected. I was expected something like $6-8 AAV. But everything this offseason has been higher than projected. So $10 is pretty reasonable. I did some looking at his defensive metrics and I really don't think he'll be as bad as many seem to think out there. He has really good speed that probably makes up for some deficiencies. I also suspect he could learn a thing or two from Cain on playing OF that might help. I think a decent homer projection for this guy could be a 280-300 hitter that hits 30-35 bombs in 2020...which is probably an all-star and easy 900 OPS hitter. Reality will probably be a bit less than that, but he should be a very good player for us.

[82brewcrew82]

[sarcasm]Brewerfan.net: Stearns is a cheapskate! Why won't he spend $300 million on Gerrit Cole?

 

Brewerfan.net: Ouch, Kevin Gausman money for an everyday OF who had a 4.5 WAR season a couple years ago? Bit too expensive.[/sarcasm]

 

Well, to be fair the latter part is due to a moderately vocal few.

[Warning Track Power]

I expected 3 years $21m. This is a lot.

Not picking on you, but just an observation.

 

people here and other places were complaining that we were going to be dropping payroll and "rebuilding" because the brewers weren't spending money and were dumping salary.

 

Now that they are spending money and filling holes people are complaining that the are spending too much. It is alot, but with how the market has been I don't think its too far out of line.

I am not opposed to this signing in the least and have no complaints about the Brewers offseason to date. I wanted Moose back, but certainly not at $16m per for 4 years. Same with Grandal.

 

I think it is another highly underrated move by Stearns. I was simply making an observation about where the price point was relative to my expectations of what it would be.

[FVBrewerFan]

We should know by now, position is pretty low on the list when Stearns acquires players. They need to replace win shares, and you make the deals you can get done and worry about positions the next day.

 

Also, the whole notion of "starting OF" or "4th OF" is old thinking. These things generally take care of themselves over the course of a season due to injuries, performance, etc. My guess is they're careful with Yelich early in the year, plus more careful with Cain throughout the whole year. Garcia won't play every day either. So plenty of ABs to go around even if Braun never plays a day at 1B.

[brooks_quichenick]

I love this move, reasonable deal and I'm pretty high on Avisail as a potential 30 HR guy hitting at Miller for half the season.

[82brewcrew82]

We should know by now, position is pretty low on the list when Stearns acquires players. They need to replace win shares, and you make the deals you can get done and worry about positions the next day.

 

Also, the whole notion of "starting OF" or "4th OF" is old thinking. These things generally take care of themselves over the course of a season due to injuries, performance, etc. My guess is they're careful with Yelich early in the year, plus more careful with Cain throughout the whole year. Garcia won't play every day either. So plenty of ABs to go around even if Braun never plays a day at 1B.

Well explained. The depth this creates is a big key and I think the ability to move Yelich back to LF full time is a huge leap forward in terms of defense for this team.

[long ball]

This probably isn't the cleanest fit, but it works if they're willing to play Braun at first base 80+ games. I actually thought Braun looked pretty decent in limited time at first base in 2018.

 

I still think the Brewers need to add a big bat and now the only obvious places would be either SS or 3b.

[KeithStone53151]

One thing I'll add. I value balance a lot, probably to a fault. I like bringing Garcia in as a RH option versus some other LH option. I fully expect a LH 1b to platoon with Braun, and possibly a LH 3b or even Cabrera who's a switch. We should have enough quality LH and RH hitters to always have a balanced lineup and avoid getting exposed by RH or LH pitching specifically.