Brewers sign C Luke Maile

[MNBrew]

Before budget factors come into play, I think it's pretty clear Narvaez, Pina, & Nottingham are all ahead of him. Freitas is a hitting savant in AAA but is nearly 32 and has never hit a lick in the majors, and since Maile has an option left, I see Freitas as the first guy who should be worried about his spot. I can't see them keeping 6 catchers on the 40-man into spring training.

 

There's the obvious non-tender question looming with Narvaez & Pina, but it's possible they tender both of them and eventually entertain trade options for one of them or Nottingham if all 3 guys are healthy. And with the 26-man roster, they could keep all 3 catchers, especially since Pina has logged some time at 1B. That would buy time and/or enable the space for all 3 of them. And even if both Pina & Narvaez make the projected arby amounts for '21, under $5M for the C tandem isn't exactly breaking the bank even with a sub-$100M payroll.

 

For whatever could be good about Nottingham, he still hits & strikes out at Keon Broxton-like rates. Of course they also say catchers take more time to develop.

 

The only thing that's sure is this: Last year didn't put any C out in front of the others as a sure favorite entering this race, and nothing about Maile's track record suggests he deserves 26-man spot above any of the other guys.

[jerichoholicninja]

Forget who he is, that's 6 catchers on the 40 man. I'm assuming at least 2 of them will be gone soon one way or another. If not, that's a total waste of roster space.

[young guns]

When one of the most comparable players to him historically is Bob Uecker, that can't be a good thing.

Hmmm, maybe we signed him to replace uecker in the booth?

[djoctagone]

FanGraphs lists him with an option. I'd imagine he'll be catching wherever the Brewers AAA ends up next year (do we know where that is yet for sure, er no?)

luke maile burned his options in 2016 and 2017, so he has one remaining. he has been placed on outright waivers the past two offseasons, with no teams paying the fee to claim him.

 

this deal is not official, but at present, a spot is open on the 40-man roster to add him.

[monty57]

I don't see how he is any better than Piña/Narvaez. Why is this a major league deal?

 

Piña and Nottingham are both out of minor league options. So if they were to keep Piña and Narvaez both they would either need to keep 3 catchers on the roster, DFA/trade Nottingham, or keep Narvaez in the minors unless there was an injury to Piña/Nottingham. So this is a deal to have one catcher on the roster with minor league options remaining basically. They were never going to keep all three of the current catchers for the abovementioned reason of options (And probably money too). So it's not about "better", it's about having a 3rd catcher that they could send back down after stepping in for injuries. If Freitas or Piña (or Nottingham) were the 3rd catcher on a minor league deal, Brewers would risk losing them on waivers (or electing free agency, if they had been outrighted before) when they were sent down after their stint in the majors. And of course Nottingham would need to pass through waivers to even be possible to have in the minors to start the year.

 

That's my take on it anyway. I would expect Narvaez and Nottingham to start the season on the major league roster, with Maile the backup in AAA. Some teams like to run 3 catchers, Brewers under the Stearns/CC era don't seem to be one of them. Another possibility is that it is Narvaez + Piña or Narvaez + Maile on the major league roster, and using Nottingham for a trade, but I think that's less likely.

 

Good post. I'd guess Pina will be traded, and some team is always looking for a solid backup, so they should be able to find a trading partner pretty easily. Maile can back up Feliciano in AAA. Maybe he can mentor him a bit, and be a guy they can bring up in case of injury that can at least play solid defense.

[JohnBriggs12]

This guy makes Bob Uecker's numbers look good by comparison!

 

Future broadcast career?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Omar

Manuel

Jacob

Luke

David

 

I just had a Sunday school flashback while looking at the Brewers catching depth chart.

[Thurston Fluff]

I guess if you don't have one good player get a bunch of cheap players and see if you can catch lightning in a bottle. The option makes it easier to do that in this instance. It doesn't have to be for the long term given Feliciano is in the pipeline.

[monty57]

I guess if you don't have one good player get a bunch of cheap players and see if you can catch lightning in a bottle. The option makes it easier to do that in this instance. It doesn't have to be for the long term given Feliciano is in the pipeline.

 

Except Maile's offensive "lightning" would be more like a static electric shock from someone shuffling their feet on the carpet.

[JohnBriggs12]

I guess if you don't have one good player get a bunch of cheap players and see if you can catch lightning in a bottle. The option makes it easier to do that in this instance. It doesn't have to be for the long term given Feliciano is in the pipeline.

 

I'd rather see them roll the dice on Feliciano now and see what he can do. You can always get catcher that can't hit. They're a dime a dozen.

[sveumrules]

Feliciano only has 3 games at AA. I can't imagine there are too many MLB catchers with such little experience in the high minors.

 

The only one I could think of is Joey Bart, who only had 22 games at AA, but it took the pandemic cancelling MiLB & Buster Posey opting out for him to make the jump & post a 69 OPS+ with a 41/3 K/BB ratio in 111 PAs. He's also a #2 pick, a couple years older than Mario & generally a more highly regarded prospect, for whatever that is or isn't worth.

 

Given we're likely to project around league average at C next year & how much of a premium the FO places on team control, I'd guess Mario opens the season in AA with a chance to move up depending on performance, injury, etc.

[djoctagone]

luke maile signing is official.

[sveumrules]

Watching Maile for the first time tonight I was really impressed with how quiet his set up & receiving were behind the plate so I thought I'd check out his framing numbers.

 

Since 2015, there are 60 catchers with at least 1,500 innings behind the plate. Despite ranking only 54th in innings at 1,601, Luke comes in 24th in framing runs at +9.7 & 16th by DRS strike zone runs at +12.

 

For reference Pina was at +5.9/+5 in 2,159 innings over that same time frame. The most similar catcher to Maile was Sandy Leon at +11.0/+14, but he needed 2,986 innings to accrue that value.

[DuWayne Steurer]

When you've got a guy who has a full season's worth of plate appearances And he's accumulated a 556 OPS, You really have to be positive about whatever else he manages to bring to the table.

[rickh150]

Watching Maile for the first time tonight I was really impressed with how quiet his set up & receiving were behind the plate so I thought I'd check out his framing numbers.

 

Since 2015, there are 60 catchers with at least 1,500 innings behind the plate. Despite ranking only 54th in innings at 1,601, Luke comes in 24th in framing runs at +9.7 & 16th by DRS strike zone runs at +12.

 

For reference Pina was at +5.9/+5 in 2,159 innings over that same time frame. The most similar catcher to Maile was Sandy Leon at +11.0/+14, but he needed 2,986 innings to accrue that value.

 

 

He framed a big strike 3 tonight with Hader that was out of the zone.

[JohnBriggs12]

They'll be forced to bring up Feliciano if Navarez is sidelined even for a few days. I'd want Feliciano in the lineup over Maile while he's here.

[TURBO]

The Nottingham DFA couldn't have come at a worse time.

[Thurston Fluff]

They'll be forced to bring up Feliciano if Navarez is sidelined even for a few days. I'd want Feliciano in the lineup over Maile while he's here.

 

It reminds me a little of Lucroy's road to the majors.

[CheezWizHed]

Feliciano looked very good in ST. I believe he is the real deal at catcher.

[djoctagone]

luke maile has been optioned to class aaa nashville. he had already burned his final option and can be recalled after 10 days (sooner if to replace a player removed from the roster via injured list or leave, or as the 27th man in a doubleheader).

[djoctagone]

luke maile has been recalled from class aaa nashville.

[djoctagone]

small sample size, i know . . . but luke maile was a huge contributor to today's win.

 

in his four september games, he's gotten a hit in each one . . . to the tune of .429 /.429 /.857.

[pacopete4]

I’ll take him over Pina. He can be our Kratz!

[bork]

Counsell praised Maile's game calling in Houser's shutout. I could see him as the backup catcher next year.

[djoctagone]

luke maile has been optioned to class aaa nashville.