Kolten Wong to Brewers

[PeaveyFury]

You realize Kolton Wong is in a typical players prime, right? Like right in the middle of it.

 

I literally had to google his birthday to make sure I hadn't really mis-read his age previous to that post...

[PDCBalla]

I'm a fan of the signing and what really interests me is what the lineup will look like. There's alot of variety Counsell can use with it and that is something that he loves to do as well. Solid move David

[homer]

 

So you think Yelich will repeat his 2020 numbers next season?

 

I really don't know to be honest. He was an MVP level player the previous two seasons but Yelich has not been consistently great throughout his career.

 

OK but you do think he'll hit better than last year right? Same with Hiura. And the Brewers get Cain back. So unless you think they needed to replace all those guys then the offense should be better just by returning to the mean - even if those guys don't all hit to their ceiling.

[MrTPlush]

Thinking more and more about this, I think Hiura is going to be dealt.

 

I know Stearns gave some lip service to him going to 1B but I think it is just that. He's Prince Fielder's height at 1B and has never played there in his career. There is no DH in the NL this year. Wong and Hiura are both 2B-only in their career.

 

I don't care what McCalvy just tweeted about Hiura to 1B. I will believe it when I see it.

 

I believe it. How are they going to trade Hiura after his miserable 2020? Hiura affirmed he is a DH, no one is trading for Hiura and putting him on the field for defense. He confirmed all the concerns about his bat and fell back down to earth just like his 2019 stats hinted at.

 

He still has a lot of value, but unless the Brewers don’t actually think Hiura is good there is no way they get the value they will seek. Just seems like a long shot after the warning flags in 2019 and then the poor 2020.

[SRB]

Always amusing to see how some viral falsehood can take off on these forums. Wong has a "noodle" bat? The last full season he hit .285/.361/.423/.784 with 11 HR and 24 SB (and elite defense).

[brewerfan82]

For those keeping track on the offseason free agency sweepstakes: https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/free-agent-tracker

 

Wong has the 20th best projected WAR, tied with Carlos Santana and better than Tommy La Stella, Eddie Rosario, and Nelson Cruz. He has the 2nd highest projected WAR for a player signed in the NL Central:

 

- Joc Pederson - Cubs (2.0 proj. WAR)

- Kolten Wong - Brewers (1.8)

- Adam Wainwright - Cardinals (1.1)

- Tyler Heineman - Cardinals (0.4)

- Trevor Williams - Cubs (0.4)

- Andrew Chafin - Cubs (0.4)

- Daniel Robertson - Brewers (0.2)

- misc other dinky signings...

[brewcrewdue80]

Seeing that indeed the plan is Hiura at 1b. Improved middle inf defense. Alright. Obviously Hiura does bring the HR power to settle as a 1b. Its just defense concerns to go with his short stature.

[brewers888]

 

So you think Yelich will repeat his 2020 numbers next season?

 

I really don't know to be honest. He was an MVP level player the previous two seasons but Yelich has not been consistently great throughout his career.

 

OK but you do think he'll hit better than last year right? Same with Hiura. And the Brewers get Cain back. So unless you think they needed to replace all those guys then the offense should be better just by returning to the mean - even if those guys don't all hit to their ceiling.

 

I don't expect much offense from Cain. Yelich better be close to MVP level or we will be bad and I expect Hiura to hit if he is even with us.

 

At this point catcher is a black hole offensively as is shortstop and third base. I also expect Garcia to be just as bad as he was last season.

 

If Hiura does end up playing first base we should be solid offensively at first, and left field and average to below average everywhere else. Sorry but I just don't see this team having nearly enough offense and think that Haines may be the worst hitting coach in baseball.

[StearnsFTW]

Can Wong play 3B?

 

He's the best defensive 2B in the league. He's not playing 3b.

 

Also he is a decent hitter, and better than decent for a 2B.

 

Good signing in my opinion. Not great but pretty good. I like the option. I'd give it a B or a B+.

[brewerfan82]

At this point catcher is a black hole offensively as is shortstop and third base. I also expect Garcia to be just as bad as he was last season.

Is your projection system basically limited to players' time with the Brewers?

[walleye]

My issue is not so much with the player its need vs money .all we heard all off season was its going to be tight etc etc so we overpay at postion thats loaded already and no I do not belive Hirua can play 1st base In fact I think thats a disaster waiting to happen..so how did we improve? We raised our payroll and even though wong may play everyday I don't belive we gained a starter because now someone's got to sit at a postion with to many players

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

At this point catcher is a black hole offensively as is shortstop and third base. I also expect Garcia to be just as bad as he was last season.

Is your projection system basically limited to players' time with the Brewers?

 

It sounds like it is more limited than that ... to only 2020 pandemic season numbers, and also whether he particularly likes them or not.

[trwi7]

Always amusing to see how some viral falsehood can take off on these forums. Wong has a "noodle" bat? The last full season he hit .285/.361/.423/.784 with 11 HR and 24 SB (and elite defense).

 

His last full season he was also 118th out of 135 qualified hitters in ISO, which suggests, while maybe not swinging a noodle, he's not really swinging a bat either. Maybe a twig?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

My issue is not so much with the player its need vs money .all we heard all off season was its going to be tight etc etc so we overpay at postion thats loaded already and no I do not belive Hirua can play 1st base In fact I think thats a disaster waiting to happen..so how did we improve? We raised our payroll and even though wong may play everyday I don't belive we gained a starter because now someone's got to sit at a postion with to many players

 

Hiura is going to be starting in 2021 ... whether it be for the Brewers, or some other team.

[StearnsFTW]

This signing is overpriced and awful.

 

So we fix our broken offense but signing an average player past his prime who can't hit at a position we don't need.

 

Perfect.

 

Also WAR is a made up statistic that means absolutely nothing to no one.

 

 

 

 

I'm Sorry. Needed to be said.

 

 

That's about all this post deserves.

[SRB]

Always amusing to see how some viral falsehood can take off on these forums. Wong has a "noodle" bat? The last full season he hit .285/.361/.423/.784 with 11 HR and 24 SB (and elite defense).

 

His last full season he was also 118th out of 135 qualified hitters in ISO, which suggests, while maybe not swinging a noodle, he's not really swinging a bat either. Maybe a twig?

 

Have you heard of this stat called OBP? It's not all about hitting HR.

[brewers888]

At this point catcher is a black hole offensively as is shortstop and third base. I also expect Garcia to be just as bad as he was last season.

Is your projection system basically limited to players' time with the Brewers?

 

Who in partcular are you referring to. If its Garcia his career is full of underwhelming years with 2 years that were good. Narvaez was just so beyond awful that I can't expect much from him either.

[patrickgpe]

for those complaining about $, mlbtraderumors had him predicted 2/16 to boston. 2/18 isn't that bad. had him as the 25th best FA coming into the offseason.

[Eye Black]

A career wRC+ of 96 is not a good hitter. Even his best is just barely above average and for the most part he makes absolutely garbage contact so the fact that he doesn't strike out a lot isn't even that great.

A wRC+ of 96 is roughly an average hitter, which maybe it's semantics but I don't consider that bad. You're also weighing in on his seasons that were 5+ years ago quite a bit, he's been pretty consistently adequate as a hitter the past 4 seasons and gets on at a good rate. Throw in his defense and he's a very nice add. Now would it have been better to use that money on 1B/3B? I think that depends on how the rest of the offseason goes.

 

2012-16:

 

2017-20:

This is yeoman's work, thank you.

[trwi7]

Always amusing to see how some viral falsehood can take off on these forums. Wong has a "noodle" bat? The last full season he hit .285/.361/.423/.784 with 11 HR and 24 SB (and elite defense).

 

His last full season he was also 118th out of 135 qualified hitters in ISO, which suggests, while maybe not swinging a noodle, he's not really swinging a bat either. Maybe a twig?

 

Have you heard of this stat called OBP? It's not all about hitting HR.

 

You were talking about swinging a noodle. That would imply power, would it not?

[StearnsFTW]

Stearns is the anti Melvin in every way. He values pitching as he should but just has no clue how to put together an offense that can score enough to win.

 

It's astonishing that you've observed him for 5 years and arrived at his conclusion. It must take quite an effort.

[wallus]

For those keeping track on the offseason free agency sweepstakes: https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/free-agent-tracker

 

Wong has the 20th best projected WAR, tied with Carlos Santana and better than Tommy La Stella, Eddie Rosario, and Nelson Cruz. He has the 2nd highest projected WAR for a player signed in the NL Central:

 

- Joc Pederson - Cubs (2.0 proj. WAR)

- Kolten Wong - Brewers (1.8)

- Adam Wainwright - Cardinals (1.1)

- Tyler Heineman - Cardinals (0.4)

- Trevor Williams - Cubs (0.4)

- Andrew Chafin - Cubs (0.4)

- Daniel Robertson - Brewers (0.2)

- misc other dinky signings...

 

But WAR doesn't matter.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

At this point catcher is a black hole offensively as is shortstop and third base. I also expect Garcia to be just as bad as he was last season.

Is your projection system basically limited to players' time with the Brewers?

 

Who in partcular are you referring to. If its Garcia his career is full of underwhelming years with 2 years that were good. Narvaez was just so beyond awful that I can't expect much from him either.

 

You are literally making your assumption on Narvaez based on a total of 126 plate appearances, when he has more than 1,200 solid plate MLB plate appearances to his name. You do realize there is probably a pretty big fallacy in that, don't you?

[StearnsFTW]

Always amusing to see how some viral falsehood can take off on these forums. Wong has a "noodle" bat? The last full season he hit .285/.361/.423/.784 with 11 HR and 24 SB (and elite defense).

 

No kidding. Incredible how badly people want to be mad.

[PeaveyFury]

My issue is not so much with the player its need vs money .all we heard all off season was its going to be tight etc etc so we overpay at postion thats loaded already and no I do not belive Hirua can play 1st base In fact I think thats a disaster waiting to happen..so how did we improve? We raised our payroll and even though wong may play everyday I don't belive we gained a starter because now someone's got to sit at a postion with to many players

 

I don't think it's fair to say we overpaid, as it really doesn't appear so. And Wong is the starter at 2B. There's no way he's sitting in 2021.

 

Hiura is either the 1B, the DH if they get that sorted out, or traded.