Brewers sign Travis Shaw- $1.5m Minor League Deal, $1.5 more in incentives, with an opt-out

[jerichoholicninja]

Looks like CC stayed in touch with Travis. The whole "hard feelings" narrative was obviously way overblown.

Will Sammon

@WillSammon

·

3m

Craig Counsell said he maintained conversations over the last year and a half with Travis Shaw. From a roster standpoint, Shaw, a LHB/3B is a good fit. And as Counsell said, "What he did last year was a fit."

 

It appears there might be some regret on Counsell's part with their decision to let Shaw go to begin with. Obvious hindsight, but his pedestrian results with the Blue Jays last year were still significantly better than what the Brewers got from the 3B position in 2020, especially after Gyorko started playing 1B nearly on a full time basis.

 

I hope there's no regret. He was putrid before the Brewers released him and then not very good last year.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Looks like CC stayed in touch with Travis. The whole "hard feelings" narrative was obviously way overblown.

Will Sammon

@WillSammon

·

3m

Craig Counsell said he maintained conversations over the last year and a half with Travis Shaw. From a roster standpoint, Shaw, a LHB/3B is a good fit. And as Counsell said, "What he did last year was a fit."

 

It appears there might be some regret on Counsell's part with their decision to let Shaw go to begin with. Obvious hindsight, but his pedestrian results with the Blue Jays last year were still significantly better than what the Brewers got from the 3B position in 2020, especially after Gyorko started playing 1B nearly on a full time basis.

 

I hope there's no regret. He was putrid before the Brewers released him and then not very good last year.

 

I think there's some obvious hindsight in Counsell's quote. Yeah, Shaw wasn't very good in 2020. But the Brewers' productivity at 3B was downright putrid.

[3and2Fastball]

In 110 career plate appearances, Luis Urias is hitting .337/.373/.500 vs LHP.

 

We need to see a larger sample size, but the question isn’t “can he hit MLB pitching?” It’s can he be more than a super utility platoon guy?

[Warning Track Power]

He makes the team if he has anything more than the 2019 Shaw who seemed to have forgotten how to hit a baseball. One of those who fell of the cliff when Haines came to town.

 

Yeah, I don't know what happened to him. He was seriously progressing to becoming a star, at worst a high end 3rd baseman. Every metric was improving and suddenly he lost the ability to make contact. Initially I thought maybe the league caught up and found a hole in his swing, but he was having the issue in Spring training already. So I have to believe he changed something in his swing/mechanics/timing or had some sort of vision change.

I remember reading something about Shaw around Spring Training 2019 changing his swing as a result of the launch angle revolution. Maybe Yelich's big out-of-nowhere 2018 convinced him to do the same. Hopefully, he can remember who he is and that 2017-2018 swing and recapture 75% of the past glory.

Shaw mentions swing changing in 2019 due to launch angle revolution in McCalvy's article today:

 

https://www.mlb.com/brewers/news/travis-shaw-returns-to-brewers

 

Hopefully, he continues the progress he showed in 2020.

[wildcat83]

I just realized Vogelbach is wearing #21 and that was Shaw's old number. Winner of the Spring Training battle gets #21?

 

Vogelbach is listed as #20 right now, so guessing Shaw got 21 back.

[AdvantageSchneider]

I didn't see this posted. Intersting article on fangraphs about Shaw. While his wRC+ was below league average he seemed to have some bad luck on balls he hit. They have highlights of 3 doubles he hit that were literally 1 foot from being HRs. His stat line would look better if he had 9 HRs in 180 ABs rather than just 6.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/travis-shaw-could-be-a-smart-flier-for-milwaukee/

[stalton]

I didn't see this posted. Intersting article on fangraphs about Shaw. While his wRC+ was below league average he seemed to have some bad luck on balls he hit. They have highlights of 3 doubles he hit that were literally 1 foot from being HRs. His stat line would look better if he had 9 HRs in 180 ABs rather than just 6.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/travis-shaw-could-be-a-smart-flier-for-milwaukee/

 

Somebody didn't eat their Wheaties last year.

 

All jokes aside, this has the potential to be a good pickup and just a minor league contract if he stinks or gets injured early.

[djoctagone]

mark your calendars for 15 march. that's the reported opt-out date for shaw if he isn't added to the 40-man roster. that's quite early in camp.

actually, it's unclear if shaw has to be added to the 40-man roster by tomorrow, or if an agreement must be reached to add him to the 40-man roster just before opening day.

 

regardless, tomorrow is the reported opt-out date.

[MrTPlush]

I didn't see this posted. Intersting article on fangraphs about Shaw. While his wRC+ was below league average he seemed to have some bad luck on balls he hit. They have highlights of 3 doubles he hit that were literally 1 foot from being HRs. His stat line would look better if he had 9 HRs in 180 ABs rather than just 6.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/travis-shaw-could-be-a-smart-flier-for-milwaukee/

 

Yah, we could play that game with any player. Everyone has near misses and sometimes you get lucky. Of those three doubles, one should have been caught. It makes an interesting article piece, but not totally meaningful. You could make an article on how Shaw is going to be a terrible pick up and point all the times he got lucky last year.

 

That being said I think Shaw will be a fine pick up. He could hit to his 95 OPS+ like he had last year and I won't really be complaining. I think he has a .750+ OPS though. Maybe optimistic, but I like a Shaw rebound.

[djoctagone]

actually, it's unclear if shaw has to be added to the 40-man roster by tomorrow, or if an agreement must be reached to add him to the 40-man roster just before opening day.

reported here that the brewers have some time beyond today to make it official, meaning the brewers can postpone a corresponding 40-man move.

[djoctagone]

the brewers do plan to add travis shaw to the 40-man roster, but have a few days still to make the corresponding move to open up a spot for him.

 

only four strikeouts in 26 cactus league plate appearances. hopefully, he continues to make contact in the championship season.

[pacopete4]

Glad he's back and looking forward to him bashing some bombs into some semi-filled stands.

[JackNicholson1974]

I always liked Travis Shaw and I was confused as to how he fell of the so hard so quickly. If he even pulls an OPS+ of 95-100 while providing some pop and defense as a LH hitter at 1b and 3b he could be very valuable

[dlk9s]

So the residents of Ding Dong City elected the Mayor to a second term. I look forward to infrastructure week.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Still VERY early, but so far, this is looking like a very astute move. Shaw has been every bit of his solid self defensively, and the bat has been a nice surprise. He's had some very good ABs, and has even taken some pitches the other way to beat the shift. His approach has been a night-and-day difference from what we saw in 2019.

 

Granted, Shaw has always been a streaky hitter, and he'll have his slumps this year, but I can't see how anyone couldn't be enthused by what he's done so far.

[pacopete4]

Was there anything in the contract for next season? I know it is way early but the Brewers will have this hole again next season if Shaw isn't around. I am wondering if there is a way he would want to come back again that is affordable to the Brewers? I am sure he will be looking to get a longer-term deal if he does continue to do well but he and Yelich seem to have hit it off as teammates and it'd be nice to get some roster stability going.

[CheezWizHed]

If Shaw has a nice year overall (say league ave for 3B), I'd imagine both sides would want to extend the deal.

[djoctagone]

nothing for 2022 reported. shaw should hit his six years of service and be eligible for free agency after this season.

[Sixtofan]

He has looked really good defensively. I didn’t remember him being that solid. Too early to get excited but some good ABs as well.

[Lathund]

He was always a solid defender. Not the flashiest, or someone who would make those throws from his knees outside the foul line like Arenado, but a very accurate thrower. But yeah, made some really good plays so far this year.

 

It is still very early, but I think the encouraging part is that in 2019 and 2020 his contact rate tanked, and thus swinging strike rate soared. This year, so far, he's much, much better than even in 2018 and 2019 in those categories. Now we shouldn't expect the current 152 wRC+ to continue, it is after all very, very early still and his BABIP will get down closer to his career numbers. But it's very encouraging that both the plate discipline stats, the statcast batted ball data and the eye test all suggest basically the same thing so far; that at the very least he's much closer to 2017-2018 Shaw than he is 2019-2020.

[SeaBass]

I've gone from a being very skeptical to trying to temper my expectations for him. If anything he's proven that the horrible slump year and the habits that came with it is well in the past. I never expected his success would be this good this fast. I think the most important part for him is to keep an even temperament, maybe we shouldn't expect him to be this good but I just don't want to see him get in a funk again like he did in '19 especially after showing he's capable of being this good. I will take an effective middle of the order bat all day long but I guess if he wants to go bonkers all year long I'm all for that too.

[brewmann04]

So far this has been a very good signing.

[RollieTime]

Shaw’s shine is certainly starting to rub off after the first week or so. If this continues and the Brewers are forced to make a decision on him, who do we have internally to replace him?

 

Zach Green is one option they could look at. I’m not sure what else at this point we could do other than bring in a free agent or trade for one. Heck, even having Arcia at this point at third might be okay.

 

It’s disappointing seeing someone like Maikel Franco that a number of people were hoping we would sign have a pretty solid start so far this season. He doesn’t strike out much either...

[Thurston Fluff]

He's a streaky hitter. You got to take the bad with the good with those guys. He's been playing pretty good defense from what I hear and we have little else to take over so why not let him work through this? If he totally collapses like he did in the past then make a move. But we won't know that for at least a month or so. By then we might have a better idea of who to replace him with too.

[Jopal78]

Tough crowd. Shaw leads the Brewers in extra base hits through the first 20 games. His 15 RBI shows he’s been putting the ball in play with men on base, and he played solid D. At a point where a big game or two will cause slash lines will fluctuate significantly, what’s not to like with Shaw’s second tenure?