How do we get Luke Scott?

[joshjs]

It's really too bad we couldn't have worked something around Gwynn, since the Astros already traded for Bourn this past week. What else do they need? Can you see them doing a deal for one of our starters? Maybe Bush or Capuano?

[TooLiveBrew]

I could see that being a good place to start, yea. Not sure what (if anything) else it'd take to get it done. I'd rather move Vargas (obviously), but if I had to pick one of your proposed two to keep - it'd be Bush.

[dadofandrew]

Scott is a fine hitter, but despite being a decent defender, does not seem to fit in with the "athletic" guy Doug is looking for. He'd be a nice fallback however.

[joshjs]

Does "athletic" = "speedy" in your mind, Al? I'm more of an OBP proponent, myself, and Scott has power, too boot. And, heck, he's got a fair number of triples, too, so he may be somewhat speedy (although he certainly hasn't stolen many bases).

 

Can you point to where Melvin said he was looking for an "athletic" guy? Maybe more context will help me understand what you mean.

[TooLiveBrew]

It was from Melvin's comments on how the team would address LF for 2008. He said he wanted an athletic guy who plays good D & has good OBP - tied to the 'Brewers have never had a player draw 100 BBs in a season' thing.

[joshjs]

I guess I'm not trying to predict the future here. I'm saying what I think is a good idea for the team, and that's Scott, more than anyone else, because he's young, he's cheap, he's been hitting for power, and he's been pretty patient. He looks like a slightly below-average defender (based on 2006 PECOTA projections of FRAA, at least), though, and there's clearly some question as to whether he's athletic. So maybe it's a no-go. (Then again, my recollection is that LaPorta doesn't project as a great defender in LF, either. Melvin seems to have defense low on his list of priorities, what with Weeks, Braun and Fielder (who few expected to be a good defender, but who's surprised).)

[TooLiveBrew]

I think Scott would be a nice fit for us in LF, josh. He appears average at worst defensively. The bulk of his innings came in RF in 2007 (where he finished with a .918 RZR), but I'd imagine he'd play just as well in LF. Imho, "athletic" should be the lowest on the list of DM priorities.

[DuWayne Steurer]

For what it's worth, Scott had a higher OPS than Carl Crawford last year, and we wouldn't have to give up Sheets to get him.

 

Now obviously going forward, I don't think Scott (who's 4 years older than Crawford) will be the better player, but he's certainly a good fall back option.

 

I've heard Vargas for Scott, but I have to believe the Brewers would have to throw in a little more to make it happen.

 

I know some people wouldn't like Scott, as he hits lefty, and wouldn't be an ideal platoon mate with say, Gabe Gross, but his splits last year are remarkably similar, with an .856 OPS vs. righties, and .850 vs lefties. Bear in mind of course that he had only 67 PA's vs. left handed pitchers. Still, that's enough of a sample (IMO) to say that he wouldn't be a total liability vs. left handed pitching.

 

I think I'd favor this deal if we could get him for Vargas plus a mid/low level prospect. I'd probably be ok even with sending them Parra, as there's definately still going to be a numbers crunch in the rotation unless something big happens.

[brewerfan82]

I posted a large comparison of outfield possibilities in another thread, but here's the part that pertains to this discussion:

 

 Career Splits 3-Year Splits
-vs- R -vs- L Overall
Player Age B/T AVG/OBP/SLG AVG/OBP/SLG AVG/OBP/SLG AB/BB AB/SO $$$
2007 Brewers LF's ** 2007 TOTALS ** 261/318/453 14.05 4.65
2007 Brewers CF's ** 2007 TOTALS ** 275/334/457 11.50 3.98
2007 Brewers RF's ** 2007 TOTALS ** 267/329/474 12.09 5.67

Player Age B/T AVG/OBP/SLG AVG/OBP/SLG AVG/OBP/SLG AB/BB AB/SO $$$
LF Gross, Gabe 28 L/R 260/350/434 093/269/167 255/351/437 6.80 4.09 0.398
LF Mench, Kevin 30 R/R 255/310/420 305/361/563 266/318/445 13.88 8.72 ARB
CF Hall, Bill 28 R/R 262/310/461 270/350/484 272/335/495 10.49 3.79 4.800
CF Gwynn Jr, Tony 25 L/R 257/307/320 280/308/280 260/307/315 14.29 5.13 0.390
RF Hart, Corey 26 R/R 270/315/486 313/389/544 284/340/506 13.54 4.76 0.392

Player Age B/T AVG/OBP/SLG AVG/OBP/SLG AVG/OBP/SLG AB/BB AB/SO $$$
LF Scott, Luke 30 L/R 276/364/534 259/372/431 273/366/516 7.21 4.12 ARB 

 

He may not be the low strikeout guy Melvin's looking for, but he definitely can take a walk and carries an excellent OBP. Couple that with his contract situation and I think he'd be the ideal player to pick up to play leftfield and hit in the two hole.

 

If you trust Gross in center, I would play Hart full time in right, Scott in left and a Gross/Hall platoon in center could be very effective. Or a rotating outfield with Hart in center and Gross in right against righties and Hall in center and Hart in right against lefties could work also if you're comfortable with that. Also, Mench still hits lefties like mad and could spell Scott against some tough southpaws.

[joshjs]

Ah, another reason Scott might be a good idea: Not a lot of tough lefties in the NL Central, IIRC.

[TooLiveBrew]

RoCo & others curious - the 3-year MLB splits on Scott v. LHP:

 

.259/.372/.431/.803

 

That's 116 ABs, with a BB/K of 18/38 (vs. 74/123 against RHP).

 

In 2005 in the PCL (AAA), his OPS was 1.049 (.394/.655 OBP/SLG) over 113 ABs v. LHP

In 2006 in the PCL his OPS v. LHP was 1.101 (.418/.683) over 104 ABs.

 

I know that individually, they're all small samples, but taken together you can see that Scott can hit LHP. Aside from getting Kearns (a wizard on D), Scott is likely my first choice at this point.

[endaround]

I never understood why Garner platooned Scott to begin with. Lane was washed up and the Astros needed to see what Scott could do. Then again I never understood why Lane wasn't nontendered last year.

[TooLiveBrew]

Me neither on the 'why was Scott platooned?', end. I recall seeing more than just a handful of "Free Luke Scott" signs while watching Astros games in 2007.

[joshjs]

"Free Luke Scott," huh? Well, I expected to have to pay more, but "free" is a good price. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif We can only wish, right joshjs?

 

 

[splitterpfj]

"There is no starting spot for Luke Scott....once the Matsui deal is finalized, Chris Burke could be shipped out." -Houston Chronicle

 

Houston wants starting pitching.

[chadomac]

please take vargas. please.

[brewers255]

If we do get Rolen, how would we get Scott? Braun, Hall, Hart is in the outfield. Would you move Hart to CF, Scott to Right and trade Hall?

[And That]

I'd rather have Scott than Hall, but unless Hall is traded for a really great closer, the Brewers won't move him just to clear room for Scott.

[PeaveyFury]

If we get Scott, we're not getting Rolen, I'd think.

[dadofandrew]

Scott would only be picked up to play LF. I am on board with trying to buy low on Scott and Burke.

[brewers255]

Peavey why dont you think we could get both than ship Hall and prospects to Twins for Nathan? Scott makes very little so salary wouldnt be a concern.

[PeaveyFury]

Because I don't think Doug is going to trade for a rent-a-closer. It's certainly possible, but I'd say unlikely.

[dadofandrew]

Doug himself said he would not give up any of the young core for Nathan. As for whether Hall is a part of that, not sure, but I agree with Peavey.

[twobrewers]

If we were able to get Riske and Franklin (In the Rolen deal), we wouldn't really need any extra bullpen arms.

 

If they were willing to take Vargas for Scott I would do it in a second.

 

Scott as a 4th outfielder has more value to me than Vargas as the long reliever. (In other words, I would see no reason to trade Bill Hall)