An intriguing new team has emerged in the Jackie Bradley Jr. race, as FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link) reports that the Brewers are “in the mix” for the outfielder’s services. Milwaukee made a push to sign Justin Turner before the third baseman re-signed with the Dodgers, indicating that the Brewers have some money to spend if they feel a substantial upgrade can be found.
While the Brewers technically have a regular center fielder in Lorenzo Cain and a full outfield altogether with Christian Yelich and Avisail Garcia in the corners, an argument can certainly be made for Bradley’s inclusion. Cain played five games before opting out of the 2020 season, and he also struggled at the plate while dealing with a number of injuries in 2019.
Those injury problems didn’t hamper Cain’s glovework, however, as Cain was his usual excellent self in center field. The idea of having both Cain and Bradley in the same outfield would be a dream from a defensive standpoint, and the Brewers could also deploy Bradley in center to give Cain some off-days, while occasionally sitting Bradley when a tough left-handed pitcher is on the mound. Garcia would likely see the biggest reduction in playing time, coming off a season that saw him hit only .238/.333/.326 over 207 plate appearances.
Bradley’s bat has been inconsistent over the years, though he hit .283/.364/.450 with seven home runs over 217 PA with the Red Sox in 2020. His hard-contact numbers weren’t impressive, marking a bit of a strange reversal from the 2017-19 seasons that saw Bradley made much more solid contact but it didn’t translate to above-average offensive production.
Several clubs have been linked to Bradley over the course of the offseason, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that “about a half dozen teams” still considering signing the 30-year-old (who turns 31 in April). Such teams as the Giants and Astros have shown interest in Bradley and still have obvious room in their outfields, though The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal noted today that signing Bradley would put Houston over the luxury tax threshold, which would hamper the team from a draft-compensation standpoint this winter for both its own free agents (i.e. Carlos Correa) and any free agents it might pursue.
Other possible Bradley suitors like the Red Sox, Mets, Cubs, and Phillies could be only on the periphery based on other additions made this offseason. With Bradley still on the market as Spring Training begins, however, it could open the door for more non-obvious teams like the Brewers to check in to see if a deal could possibly be had.
I am confused.
Indeed –
Fun fact – Yelich Cain Garcia make up 55% of Mils payroll this year and this is the last “cheap Yelich” year
This sounds more like agent spin to get talks moving.
More like total BS as the editor was demanding press on potential JBJ signings. The Bosox will sign him next week to 50% of what he’s asking.
Me too, this is a head-scratcher!
Blue jays are not interested.
They’re still “in on” Nate Colbert.
Love Nate Colbert. Ollie Gaston too.
Tell em’ to bring a pickax & shovel…
If Bradley was to come cheap, springer could move to a corner outfield spot which he is better fit for anyways. Sure the jays just signed springer but they could upgrade their outfield by playing Bradley in center and springer in a corner. They are simply monitoring, as are the Mets (who have already signed capable centerfield options like almora this off season), the brewers (who already have Cain), and the phillies who already have 24 ywar old Adam haseley who deserves a legit chance…. the only team that Needs a centerfielder is Boston right now, but the other teams mentioned could take him on as an upgrade at the right price. And even then, Verdugo or franchy Cordero could be viewed as the sox centerfielder. Or perhaps they think jarren duran will seize the spot in spring training
Bradley would only make sense if the Jays were willing to move an OF.
Team that should be all over Bradley is KC. It moves Michael Taylor to the bench and Taylor can play when a LHP is on the mound.
As a Royals fan, I’ve thought that myself.
But if something unforeseen happens, I think it’ll be resigning 3B Maikel Franco, moving Dozier to RF, & having Whit reclaim 2B moving Lopez to a reserve infield role…
Pauly, that could work too. I seem to think both JBJ and Franco could fit if Lopez goes to the bench to allow Dozier and Merrified to move to RF and 2B respectively.
Agreed! 100%
What’s the big fuss over a .230 hitter who will soon be a .215 hitter? The Royals are better off developing talent.
pretty sure astros also need a CF since they lost Springer
pretty sure astros also need a CF since they lost Springer
Houston allegedly goes over the luxury if they sign Bradley. Allegedly.
If they somehow have a possible deal involving LGJ I could see Bradley as a possibility. They were very close to signing Brantley after the Springer deal so it’s not impossible. It’s seems highly unlikely though.
Seems like a classic Brewers move: Wait until the last possible moment then pounce on a guy who overpriced himself and in the end won’t help the team much, although they will get celebrated as geniuses for making the move. For all the good press the Brewers FO gets, they’ve been cruising a long time on that one off-season when they stole Yelich, signed Cain, and went for a bullpen heavy pitching staff. It was absolutely brilliant and far sighted on all counts, but that was a long time ago now.
This what you have to do as a small market team. What there doing has been impressive… I am a little biased. They will be competing this year for 1st in the NL central. I have them pegged at taking second. They still have a great bullpen and quite frankly there starters aren’t bad. There offense was horrible last year… yet somehow still limped into the playoffs. I look for quite a few players to bounce back this year.
There
They’re
Their
Thanks for the grammar correction! I would now like to correct your face!
Doubt Brewers make the postseason. They got in lucky last year with expanded teams and they’re trending downward.
Yes hate on the small market team that is actively trying to improve.
Been to the playoffs the last 3 years and been pretty competitive as of late.
You are a clown man
Seamaholic –
Just exactly who are you talking about? They waited out the market on Grandal and Moose in the past couple of years, but both were very valuable pieces to the team and a godsend to the lineup. I don’t get your line of thinking, and wish you would have given a few examples about “who didn’t help the team much”. Also, if they didn’t help the team much, why would they have been celebrated as geniuses for making these moves? Your comment makes very little sense to me
He was stupid. I was lucky. I will visit him soon.
Name checks out. Although that was more of a Haiku than a riddle.
“The Haiku”, now that would’ve been one hell of a Batman villain
I’d definitely watch a film about that villain before I would watch that Joker movie.
Everything he said only in haiku form. Brilliant. I think I could see William shatner playing him….
Except they’re generic statements. If the haiku had more clarification of subject and purpose it would make more sense. To me it’s just generic words, not baseball content.
LOLOLOL
Don’t they have Garcia, Cain and Yelich. ‘Im betting on all these guys to bounce back ngl. Garcia goes good to bad. Had bad year now good year.
They do for 40 of their 75 mill payroll indeed … Bradley would be their 4th highest payed player….the top 3 ….you just named them
That would be an odd signing for Milwaukee..
Would it be an odd signing though? The brewers have gotten creative. Moving moustakas to second,Ryan Braun to left from third after he had just won ROY at just the age of 23. Potentially playing Hiura at first base this season. These three come to mind. After these moves, I’m not sure how bringing in a former gold gloves and all star left handed compliment to Garcia that can spell Cain and if anything only get better defensively when doing so is odd… as long as he was to come at the right price
If players perform to their expectation, IF!!!, the brewers should make it to the playoffs, once in the playoffs, is the team that gets hot that takes it all, I am seeing it with brewer love, but it’s about time we make it back to the world series, hopefully our bullpen stays strong this time around
I agree they have a good team. Can those players like Yelich, Huira, and Garcia play up to 2019 levels, i hope so. If so or even close I agree they will be in the playoffs. That pitching staff was great last year and carried them into the playoffs. The offense was just awful though.
“Jackie Bradley Jr. race”? Race is the last word I’d use to describe his off season.
Well, speed walking and snail races exist. This pursuit seems to fit in that realm.
it’s a race for HIM to find a team before the season starts
Doesn’t seem like a good fit with a full OF. Would be too expensive for the brewers to use as depth.
i feel that agents are using the brew as “fluff” team to drive up prices. don’t really see where jbj upgrades your outfield for the cost and pretty much all teams in the nlc have been cutting costs.
This just means that a signing is imminent elsewhere.
I can’t help but wonder if the Brewers have a possible deal of Cain or Garcia in a trade if JBJ is signed
Milwaukee loves their outfielders. I think they need to focus more on their infield than adding a 4th starting outfielder. Maybe they’ll trade Cain if they sign JBJ.
Did you post at Netsports back in the day?
Wow… talk about a blast from the past. I did indeed post on Netsports back in the day, when I was just a young chap. That was a great community, and I’ve wondered whatever became of certain people I met on there.
Nice, I remember you, kid from Maine! I was Brewinbucks(at least I think that was my handle).
Dude, no way. I remember you well, you were my homie back in the day! Truly awesome to hear from you again, I hope you’ve been doing well my man.
Hell ya Hban, that place was the best. Had many great conversations, it was a family. I’m doing great, hope you are as well.
shocktheworld@gmail.com
They May be Thinking of Flipping Cain to another team for pitching
Meet the Mets
Why do the Brewers, year after year, stockpile position players while ignoring their starting pitching? They can only put 8 hitters on the field at a time. They have limited resources, yet they overspend on their bench every year while their starting pitching remains inadequate to ever contend for a World Series. They’re just throwing money away on these extra position players – money they can ill afford to just throw away.
In their defense here they prolly get more lb for lb from their staff than any other team
The OF splurge is a bit odd tho for a low payroll team
I thought Turner made a ton of sense ; JBJ not so much
Turner would have been great…kind of like when they picked up Aramis Ramirez for his last few years. Sadly, I think Turner just used the Brewers to drive up his price for the Dodgers though and actually never intended to leave LA
Without looking, I think the Brewers were 3rd in the NL in xFIP last year, and have already improved their defense with the addition of Wong (and I acrtaully think that Hiura is an instant upgrade at first over Smoak and Vogelbach, even never having played there). Putting JBJ in an outfield with Yelich and Cain is another boost. They can’t hit as poorly as they did last year…can they?
lol when it comes to hitting my team the cards wanna say hold my beer. jokes aside given a full season not a cup of coffee season the brew should be a lot better offensively (i’m hopping we improve off. after getting nolan) the big question is there sp and other than bauer who i’m not sold on wasn’t like there were any good sp options.
There’s still Odorizzi; seems teams aren’t willing to give him what he wants.
either odo is in the jbj boat and they think there better than what they are or there are enough neg flags on them why there still on the market. also is odo the answer for the brew and sp i see the brew being a true tor guy and a solid #2 or #3 guy to be in a ws discussion.
also i have questions on odo given that pax, klub, walker got mlb deals and they have big question marks and he still available brings up the question why is odo still available.
“Top” Jimmy –
Dude their pitching was just fine last year. Better than fine in fact. Their offense is what killed them. That being said, I don’t know that Jackie Bradley improves the offense much, if at all.
you make a good point i feel that mil off will be better but just like the cubs pitching is there big weakness. pens are volatile (how many times have we seen last season’s best bp is next season’s worst bp) and there sp is questionable and i’m sure the brew knows this. other than going all in and mortgage the future. pitching options in fa this year kinda sucks so you start looking in how to improve in other areas and make mediocre pitching not look so mediocre.
Bradley will be one of the biggest busts of 2021.
Is Boras using the Press to reminder people Bradley is still on the market?
Has to be. The Brewers are about as likely to be seriously in on Bradley as the Yankees. Makes no sense at all.
As a Red Sox fan, I’m optimistic the Brewers will sign the entirely overrated JBJ. Bradley’s numbers in 2020 look okay because the season schedule happened to coincide with JBJ’s annual, fleeting hot streak. Given time, all those numbers drop.
Nobody wants Cain with his history of injuries , he an above ave outfielder but can’t hit anymore
Do the Brewers already have an amazing rotation or something? Why would they waste money on JBJ?
They have two very solid starters in Woodruff and Burnes, with about five OK guys to fill out the remaining 3-4. They also have a very good bullpen.
Check the stats from last year, Blancos
Sign JBJ, trade Cain to the Mets. Mets take on the salary so they don’t have to give up much. Cain is a sorely needed right handed bat and true centerfielder. This is not realistic and there would be no place for Dom Smith, but it would be cool
Professor Frink-I wish the players union would have agreed to the universal DH. It would make a trade for Cain perfect. You shift Nimmo to left,Dom to first and have a good defensive RH centerfielder for the next 2 years. I don’t think Cain would cost a ton either. Maybe a decent low level prospect or 2. I would try to put Familia in the deal to offset some of the money for this season.
Yeah I think the Brewers would basically give Cain away if they could replace him with Bradley. Cain really stunk up the place offensively in 2019, opted out in 2020, and is near the end of his career while making a pretty decent salary. He might have another good year in him, but it’s a sizable gamble at this point.
Despite being overpriced, I think he would really help the Mets and Phillies who’s defensive options in CF are subpar. Mets have some defensive replacement CF depth. Phils have nothing. So I think JBJ really moves the needle for those teams. I don’t see either of those teams going over the lux tax for JBJ though.
He would be the perfect addition to the Phils. It’s no news that they need a proven CF. The rest of the lineup can make up for the lack of offense, his play in the field will make up for it. If they can afford him, I certainly hope they’re looking at him.
@Philliesphan77 Can you believe we haven’t had a decent CF since Victorino (who was great)?
i can ever since 11 your guys fo has kinda been a joke tbh no reason the phils should be a top team in the east year in and out. you have an owner willing to spend “stupid money” to field a good team yet you guys have been stuck in mediocrity. least there is hope for the phils i think dd is gonna make em a serious contender in 3 to 4 years.
the problem has been continuously failing to develop talent. rebuilding doesn’t work when you can’t do that.
that is true von but i put player development on the fo every teams lifeline is there farm and it is the gm/pbo job to get the right guys to develop the kids or they need to replace them. also think your guy’s scouts may be sub par due to having such an awesome fo from 11 to now. if your evo’s are crap doesn’t matter how good the coaching is you can only polish a turd so much and it’s still a turd. long and short i fully believe the phils problems of being a respected team is there arm chair fo guys
The Phillies have absolutely failed at drafting and developing talent and that’s why we’re in the painful era of Phils baseball. Hopefully that will start to change now with Bohm and hopefully with Stott. As for Victorino, that’s actually pretty insane to think about. Odubel showed flashes and really made himself seem like the long term answer, but man was he frustrating to watch some of the time. Hopefully the new and (finally) experienced FO can start to turn things around. I’m already encouraged by the smaller off-season additions of veteran players. It’s so much better than the days when we had S-Rod on the bench and Klentak trying to be cute with his moves.
as much flak dd gets look at his resume as a whole he did help build up the expos (yes he wasn’t the guy but his finger prints are on that team) and for a good minute made the tigers a good team and built up that team. his bos stint doesn’t look great won a ws (questionable or not) also put them in a bad spot but dd has a boss and i feel bos wanted to win at all cost and a lot of “moves” dd made where made at an ownership level. think philly fans have something to look forward to they got a guy in the fo with a direction. i give the phils 2 years to be in the discussion of maybe a wc spot and in year 3 or 4 serious contenders
Why would you want Bradley and pay a big contract when you already have a pretty good outfield. Unless they are letting go of one of them in a trade. And our farm system is loaded with there top drafted players would hope one of them will get to the majors in the next year or so. There biggest need is a 3rd baseman and if they trade use Hiura in a trade a 1st baseman.
Makes no sense to trade Hiura. He’s an upgrade defensively at first over the pans of lasagne they rolled out there last year. And he will hit.
Definitely no point in trading Hiura. His value is at an all-time low right now. Why would anybody trade a potentially great talent at the worst possible time and receive nothing in return?
“Brewers are in the mix.” There’s a mix?
This sounds like Boras’s smoke and mirrors attempt to generate interest where there might be but might not be. JBJ would be Cain insurance, at-best, and possibly spending some time in right. I think JBJ’s asking price has been too high, but I would stick his glove in centerfield at any time. He makes no spectacular catches because he is always there. He looks boring out there until you watch him long enough and see how great a defender he is. On a team with plenty of offense, his glove in center is a boon. I just don’t see it in Milwaukee, but what do I know?
A bidding war with the Brewers scares nobody
Do the Brewers need more defense in the OF, or more offense generally? (Starting with 3B)
Without question, they need more offense. A couple of guys who don’t strike out a third of their AB’s would be nice. Last year’s offense was utterly pathetic…I cannot believe they retained their hitting coach!
small market brewers interested maybe small market pirates interested. NOT!
id love this!
This would actually be a decent signing for Milwaukee. They didnt really upgrade their offense but bounce backs for Yelich and Hirua should cover that. With a great bullpen and an underrated starting rotation keep upgrading that defense like they already did with Wong and moving Hiura to 1st base.
Lo Cain is going to the NYM now?
Any change of scenery will be good for JBJ. He’s the type that has to figure things out on his own. He’ll be fine if he is given the opportunity.
I have watched Jackie play quite a bit. I bet the # of catches he makes in center field that a ‘regular’ centerfielder would have missed minus his strikeouts is a negative number, by far. My point is he is not worth in my opinion elite $$.
At least the Brewers are being honest in the fact that JBJ would basically be a 4th Outfielder. The Brewers had to trot Avisail Garcia out in CF 44 times last season (he previously had only played 45 games in CF his whole career) which is not an ideal solution in a regular 162 game season. I guess its getting time to gauge how badly JBJ wants to play this year Because none of the teams listed in the above article are going to offer multiple years and almost certainly not going to offer (much)more than the $4 million the Yankees gave Brett Gardner
That was because Cain opted out. Something you are unprepared for after he played a handful of games before doing so. Garcia may be platooned with JBJ, with JBJ being a backup plan to Cain. Garcia also has an option and a 2nd yr for JBJ would be easy to not pick it up. You can essentially go 1+1option and have an ability to pick who fits Milw better for 2022.
They have so many depth infielders. Maybe they could deal Cain and some of that depth for a real third baseman or a real shortstop
Appears this is Boras firing off an SOS flare to Bradley’s apparent non-existent suitors. Hello, me not dead.
Perfect fit for Bradley would be Kansas City but no one is saying this. Reason a. Lopez career batting average at 2nd is .220. Plug in Whit Merrifield at 2nd is a 285 career hitter. Plus Whit is more natural 2nd baseman. If you are trying to win more games whits wins bs replacement at second with Lopez is Whit by 11 games. Now alex Gordon retired and Jackie which if the Royals were to start today Whit would be out of position left field plus Royals want another left handed bat. If you have benintendi, Bradley, Taylor in outfield. Whit, salvy, Dozier, Mondesi, Carlos Martinez with Soler at DH. This would make them serious playoff contenders with there pitchers. Plus Moore says he can go 10 to 15 million more.
I personally like the notion of a Yelich, Cain, JBJ outfield. If we can trade Garcia as part of a package for someone like Kyle Seager then it would be even better.
Wong, Cain, Yelich, Hiura, Seager, JBJ, Navraez and Arcia would be a solid lineup.
If this is remotely true, it makes me wonder if Cain is considering opting out again this season. That would at least make more sense.
Come on Bloom, get Jackie signed for 2-18 and lets win the East! He will make our pitching much better if anything with D! He can get the youngsters ready for the future as well.