March 14: Haudricourt tweets that the second opinion on Vogt’s shoulder revealed nothing new, confirming that he’s still suffering from a capsule strain in his throwing shoulder. That could mean he’s in line to open the season on the disabled list, which would temporarily solve the out-of-options logjam at backup catcher. Upon being cleared to play, Vogt would have a month’s time to get back up to speed in a rehab assignment, and the Brewers would have some additional time in-season to evaluate Bandy.
Haudricourt wonders in a followup tweet whether the Brewers may monitor the market for catching depth with Vogt on the shelf. Milwaukee’s catching depth thinned out a bit earlier this winter when the Orioles picked up Andrew Susac in a minor trade.
March 12: Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt, initially projected to be out for two to three weeks with a shoulder issue, experienced a setback when attempting to throw on the field today, tweets MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel adds that Vogt is headed for an MRI to further evaluate the root of his shoulder discomfort (Twitter links).
As both McCalvy and Haudricourt point out, the timing of the move puts both Vogt and the Brewers in a difficult spot. The well-respected veteran entered camp as the favorite to join Manny Pina in comprising Milwaukee’s primary catching tandem, but his status is now up in the air. Moreover, Vogt is out of minor league options and is on a non-guaranteed arbitration contract. The Brewers could still cut him between now and Opening Day and only owe Vogt 45 days of termination pay — or $750K of his $3.05MM arbitration salary.
[Related: Updated Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]
The injury is of interest not only because Vogt is out of minor league options but also due to the fact that fellow catcher Jett Bandy is out of options as well. It seemed like a long shot that both Vogt and Bandy would make the Opening Day roster (barring an injury to Pina), but Bandy looks less like the odd man out now that Vogt’s shoulder is proving to be a continued source of discomfort. Bandy hit just .207/.287/.349 through 188 MLB plate appearances in Milwaukee last year and hasn’t provided anything at the plate in 28 spring PAs (.222/.250/.296), but he nonetheless is likely to be the backup if Vogt proves unready for the opener.
Depending on the severity of Vogt’s shoulder, Milwaukee could cut him loose and try to bring him back to the organization on a new minor league contract. If he does ultimately make the roster, Vogt would be guaranteed the full $3.05MM to which he agreed in arbitration, even if he were to land on the disabled list to begin the year.
Cut him and sign someone else at the end of Spring Training. Should be enough options.
Well Betancourt has actually been impressing coaches this spring. I also think JR Murphy or Blake Swihart could make for interesting pick ups if they get optioned. We had good luck last year when we found Aguilar the same way ( out of options)
I’d hate for dbacks to get rid of Murphy. I like him as backup than any of the others
Can see Boston parting with Leon not Sweihart if they decide to move one.
Lucroy? What’s he looking for, contract wise?
He already signed with the A’s.
Really hope he is alright, he’s one of the he nicsest guys in the sport. Wish him nothing but the best. I believe in Stephen Vogt!
They could get Lucroy…
That’s a shame.
He already signed with the A’s.
Did he already sign with the A’s?
I think he already signed with the A’s…
Nah Oakland signed him
I wonder if there is a website that might tell us if Lucroy signed. someone get on that.
Seems simple. If they feel vogt is going to be useful down the road this season, dL him & roster pina & bandy, if not cut him
Here’s the plan. Vogt starts the season on the DL. When he’s ready to come back then you either send Jett Band-Aid down to the minors or DFA him. Dude couldn’t hit .250 if they put the ball on a tee for him. Problem solved.
Didn’t expect Stearns to spend crazily, but we need a) starting pitching, b) a DECENT catcher, and c) help at 2B. So what does Stearns get? TWO starting OFs, and not much else. The numbers just don’t suggest Pina is the answer, and we have too many outfielders. If he signs Cobb, I’ll feel a bit better, but nothing shows that he will even try.
Exactly what catcher were they gonna sign that would put up a better line than the catchers they had last season? The Brewers actually ranked in the top half of almost all offensive numbers from the catchers spot last season (and that’s with Pina hurt for quite a while), so where were they going to find a top 10 catcher exactly? And why sign someone at 2B when they think Hiura could be ready by mid-season? You hope Villar bounces back, if not you still have Sogard and Perez who are viable playres until the kid is ready. As for pitchers, I’m glad they didn’t over spend on an over-rated option again like they have in the past. None of Arrieta, Lynn or Cobb are not the final pieces to put the team over the top.
Really? Arrieta would have been the ace, hands down. Instead you give lo Cain 80 mil ? With an already packed outfield? Much rather have arrieta starting opening day with Yelich Braun and Santana In the outfield.
psa Hiura won’t sniff the show for 3 years. What are you thinking. He’ll start in high A and hit .260 and get moved up to AA and get diced. Zero chance he plays in the big leagues in 2018.
You’re seriously high if you think Hiura won’t be up for another 3 years. He’s already hit at the A level and most, if not all, scouts have said his bat is almost ready. He’ll be a September call up in 2018.
What about Realmuto? Package a deal involving Broxton.
They also had all the opportunity to reunite with Lucroy but for some reason they felt fine with what they had.
Yeah way too many outfielders and first baseman that need to play. Been waiting for them to deal a couple to upgrade the rotation but teams won’t be dealing from their rotation at this juncture. Strange offseason for Milwaukee.
An argument can be made that the pitching staff has been improved by the outfield additions… I think there goal was to trade Santana and put Phillips and his cannon arm in right they just didn’t see the market for poor defencive outfielders with an above average bat would be so out of demand… they played that card wrong… but I do believe they improved the pitching staff with the defence gains… an up the middle of pina, Arcia and Cain has to make the pitching staff giddy!!! Plus they gain by not having having Garza/pereltra in the rotation for any portion of the season this year… they have an above average bullpen and with starters not even averaging six innings anymore in Mlb ( not saying all pitchers it’s just the average solid work horses are really hard to come by in the new era) the bullpen world has takin on a different role and Milwaukee has a great bullpen.. and I Believe the outfield moves are not lateral to this season as both are signed long term (granted I think Cain only has 3 maybe four years left as an above average defender in center) it opens a 3-4 year window for woodruff, Ortiz perelta and burns to progress to where they are major league starters at dirt cheap prices… and still have Williams and Lopez ready for major bullpen roles as early as this year after the super two deadline.. moral is they are setting up for 19-20 to be there go for it years rather then going all in on an 86 win season.. they have the money and prospects to make a move at midseason if the team is again ahead of schedule… and for everyone that thinks Nelson is gong to come back stud your expectations are way to high if it happens great but let’s not put that pressure on him let’s hope for him to be full form next spring… pitchers are so volatile… and as far as hiura he MAY get a September call up he has to prove he can play second first let’s not forget he’s played in the field for a few weeks in the field end of last year… and he WONT get called up to dh in interleague not when you will have Braun and Thames platooning at first… they will be your dh.. moral look long term as Stearns has done let’s not think it’s all this year or we are screwed… with that said I would love to see Cobb added but it has to come right… his market is dwindled I would offer 3/33 with some incentives (innings pitched) and see where it goes.. don’t bid against yourself if you get him great if you don’t so be it… I don’t think he gets the cubs offer of 3/42 that offer is long gone… but even if they sign Cobb and you have post season plans don’t you have to limit him to 150 innings during the regular season to make sure he’s availible for the post season?? He’s not Ben sheets but health wise he is have to have your fingers crossed and be on a strict pitch count hence the importance of a bullpen in today’s game…there’s a reason they won’t throw hader in the rotation he has more value in the bullpen your going to start seeing more of
This
Sorry but while you’re right about Nelson, you’re still wrong to think another year will help him. Labral injuries are career killers for throwing athletes.
Honestly if you could read through that, good for you. Couldn’t get past the first paragraph.
TL;DR
I just ran into your wall of text
Some line breaks. Even in random places
Way too much. I’m sure it was a fine opinion but dang.
The argument of to many outfielders and 1st basemen I disagree with.. it sucks that Aguilar is prob the odd man out… but braun can play right and left (granted at below average) players need days off.. Cain has to be limited a bit he has an injury history but Yelich can play everywhere and Phillips can also. Broxton is the odd man out in my humble opinion.. but I see an easy 400-500 at bats for all of them especially with Craig as manager he likes to play matchups… the at bats are there for all of them… there’s no reason to not think braun is in the lineup 5 days a week Cain is in 5 Days Yelich in 5 days and Santana 5 days let alone if Phillips makes the cut he could play 5 days… just run a rotation depending on the pitchers you face and your off days… the at bats are there….
If Phillips Braun Santana Cain and yelich play 5x a week how many abs does that leave Eric Thames? Let’s do some quick math here. 4 spots (OF+1B) let’s assume a 6 game week. That’s 24 Spots a week open. Right? Now do the math up there. 5+5+5+5+5 You’re already at 25 and that doesn’t count any starts from Thames. There’s more than one odd man out. You cant rotate 6 players in 4 spots and get them all 5 starts a week. Phillips or Broxton will be lucky to see 2 a week.
Didn’t they get bethancourt?
Not a good catcher but a good hitter
He’s got a great arm behind the plate, but his receiving skills aren’t top notch. But he is NOT a good hitter. Career line of .222/.252/.316 and and OPS+ of 56 is god awful. He has hit pretty well this spring, but that’s a small sample.
More like not a good hitter, but a good catcher.
Steve,
I sent Tim an email re: this subject.
Brewers trade lucroy for brinson and Ortiz. Brewers trade brinson and others for Yelich. Unnecessary move with the outfield they already had. Essentially traded lucroy for Yelich which seems stupid. I’d rather have lucroy, an all star catcher, than another outfielder to complicate things.
You may go now.
Brewers stacking the offense. Meanwhile the defense and pitching is horrible as always.
They have drastically improved their defense with the additions of Cain and Yellich, as all 3 of their incumbent OFs had negative defensive value. And they were #9 in the league in ERA last year (#10 in SP ERA) so not sure how that was “horrible”…………
Leading THE ENTIRE LEAGUE in bullpen losses. That’s how.
And they addressed the bullpen in the off season by adding Albers and Logan not to mention that a lot of those losses were early on in the year before Hader cemented the bullpen.
Correction, before Hader and Swarzak (who is now gone) improved (I would not say “cemented”) the bullpen. I’m not convinced that Albers will be able to duplicate what Swarzak did last year. They also stupidly failed to offer arbitration to Hughes who was their most consistent reliever last season.
I’m not sure why so many fans are up in arms about the starting rotation when the bullpen looks just as shaky as last year.
Swarzak > Albers and Logan. They’ll miss him a lot. If they are contending at the deadline I won’t be surprised to see them swing a deal for a reliever.
As far as Shaw having range, you’re ridiculous. He’s literally the slowest third basemen in all of baseball. Does me make all the routine plays ? Sure. Does he make any great plays? No.
I said he was above average in RANGE FACTOR. League average range factor for a 3B is 2.48, his is 2.54. Actual statistics instead of non-substantiated claims of him being “literally the slowest third baseman in all of baseball.” Did you line them all up and have a foot race? Cause there are definitely some plodders out there, and not many of them were 10/10 in SB like Shaw was…..
MLB actually tracks sprint speed now. The slowest third baseman in baseball in 2017, was Luis Valbuena. the next-slowest was Cheslor Cuthbert. Also at the bottom – Moustakas, Sandoval, Escobar, Gyorko, and Beltre. (Surprised Pablo isn’t last). Shaw ranks ahead of all the ones I listed along with Headley and Wil Flores – Shaw was the 376th fastest player in baseball by sprint speed in 2017, out of 451 players listed.
The slowest player in baseball in 2017, btw, was Albert Pujols, which should be no surprise to anyone.
Braun the lying cheat is a defensive liability everywhere he plays. Santana jogs to everything. Shaw isn’t a true third basemen. Second base will lead the team in errors. Thames is too jacked to move at first base. Lo Cain, great defender, is only getting older.
Whatever go troll some place where you make since while your at it tell the Brewers to sign Brett Lawrie and turn him and Clint Coulter back into catchers
Sense******** genius.
Thames actually has an above average uzr and range factor for 1B, so saying that he’s too jacked to move is ridiculous. Shaw was well above league average in both range factor and fielding percentage at 3B. Cain is getting older, but he’s only 31 and still an above average defender. You completely left out the fact that Yelich vastly improves their defense and Arcia is great defensively…..
Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates would be a nice addition. But right now the front office wants to give the impression they are serious about winning so it’s unlikely he’d be moved till the deadline
ok Braun it is time to do some catching behind the plate
I guess Vogt will be spending some time in that van down by the river…..
It’s a shame that a majority of you have turned this into a go-to zone.
davidcoonce – thank you for fighting the good fight.
if desperate, Cameron Rupp should be available.
We have a logjam at catcher, so the answer is to acquire another one..? I guess if that means 2 of the current bunch are sent packing it makes sense..
Since it appears Vogt is DL bound, keep whichever is better between Bandy and Bethy til he comes back. Having seen very little of Bethy, I’d say go with him. Because I’ve seen Bandy fail enough to know he’s not good.
Let the “Stearns screwed up by not bringing Lucroy back” screams commence.
Logically, Andrew Susac should’ve stayed. He has an option. Bandy does not. Nor does Vogt. Should’ve determined who goes right then and there and kept the guy who you could option. It’s a small move that probably won’t hurt them but it’s questionable.
Can they really cut a guy who is hurt in spring training and not have to pay his salary? So, if a pitcher in the last of his arbitration years blows out his arm and requires TJ surgery he loses 3/4 of his salary? That doesn’t sound true.