The Red Sox have traded third baseman/outfielder Garin Cecchini to the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). The former top prospect was recently designated for assignment in Boston.
Cecchini, 25 next April, will provide the Brewers with an option at third base or first base, where they’re quite thin on MLB-ready talent. The 2010 fourth-rounder has received 40 plate appearances in Boston over the past two seasons and batted .229/.325/.400, but his bat never really came around in two seasons at the Triple-A level. Viewed as a consensus top 100 prospect heading into the 2014 season, Cecchini has batted just .238/.314/.333 in two seasons at the top minor league level.
Following the 2013 season Baseball America lauded Cecchini for his knowledge of the strike zone and ability to barrel up pitches and hit to the opposite field, projecting that even if his glove would cause him to move to first base or left field, his on-base skills and high averages could make him a big league regular. Last winter, BA wrote that he still had considerable offensive upside even as his defensive question marks grew, but he struggled a great deal in Triple-A this year.
1st 3rd baseman with speed?
Not really.
Good luck Garin i hope you do good and make the majors with the Brewers.
As a Red Sox fan and native of Louisiana I wish the best of luck to you Garin. Hopefully you’ll get the playing time to shine
Wasn’t this one of the guys the Red Sox were proposing as a centerpiece for Hamels?
Probably as a 3rd or 4th piece. Not a centerpiece.
Never did that happen. It was said the Phillies liked him and he was talked about as a final piece/throw in to sweeten the deal. He had sightly more value then because he had been only a year removed from a top prospect.
He’s never been mentioned as a centerpiece for any deal, even when his stock was high. People have been trying to lump him into the “Sox overvalue their prospects” category even though he doesn’t really fit.
no at the time we wanted boegarts and/or betts in any trade with hamels……was lots of talk on owens cecchini and Bradley jr
Had no clue he was DFA. Could have sworn he was one of their top prospects. Did injuries get to him or did he just perform poorly?
Poor performance at AAA and already 25. Also clearly blocked by Sandoval, Holt and Devers.
He didn’t play very well in Triple A. He hasn’t been talked about as much of a prospect since before the 2014 season. Most list had him outside of the Red Sox top 30 or at the bottom of it. Kinda why they signed Sandoval because Ceechin and middlebrooks had/were failing.
I was more surprised that Middlebrooks hit that wall…I thought he was going to be really good…
He was too patient and struck out a lot. Look at his stats from the past two years. Bad
Bad plate discipline the last few years trying to pull the ball for power. Was a good hitter to all fields without enough power to profile at 3B or 1B and not the defense to play 2B. Changed his approach and really looked bad at the plate the last few years,
Would have been a good fit for the Angels. Even if he just became minor league depth, he would have been a decent get based on possible untapped upside alone.
Good low risk pick up for a team who is starting to rebuild.
Brewers might be rebuilding but they have better options than a guy who posted a sub .600 OPS at AAA last year.
They really don’t.
Guessing he starts in AAA anyway. He has an option left.
The best 3rd base “prospect” in Milwaukee’s system are currently shortstops who have yet to play above A-ball. They are probably at least four years away from seeing time in the Bigs.
When you can make a trade for someone at the cost of “cash considerations,” why not? Maybe the kid just needs a change of scenery, and an opportunity to play every day. Maybe he’s really done, and will be out of baseball in two years. No harm in seeing what he can do.
Villar is only 24 and has shown some promise as is Perez. Rivera may compete with them (unless they trade Segura in which case he may start at SS til Arcia is ready) and is a much better fielder. He, like Cecchini hasn’t really showed the power to stick at third though. Guessing he does start in either AA or AAA, not an immediate answer but like you said, for cash considerations why not? Gatewood is still probably at least a good 3-4 years out.
How does one go from having a reputation of good command of the strike zone, hitting to all fields with good contact to a guy who can’t do anything at the plate? I had high hopes for him.
Got too caught up in hearing people say he didn’t hit for enough power to play 3B in the bigs so he completely lost discipline and started trying to kill everything.
At this point, *any* 3B prospect is a step in the right direction for the Brewers.
Bigger Bust–Will Middlebrooks or Garin Gecchini?
Both were never rated super highly but probably Middlebrooks
Middlebrooks by far he hit 288 15 homers 14 doubles in 75 games his rookie year then completely fell off,,,,,was just non tendered by the padres didn’t want to pay 1m ..
May have been due to the 40-Man roster spot with non-tendering Middlebrooks.