The Brewers are among the teams with interest in Orioles first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He adds that Milwaukee was one of the clubs in contact with the Diamondbacks about another lefty-hitting first baseman, Josh Naylor, before Arizona dealt him to Seattle.
O’Hearn is arguably just behind Naylor as the next-best impending free agent lefty hitter on the trade block. The 32-year-old O’Hearn was a first-time All-Star this season. He tore the cover off the ball for the season’s first two months, batting .333/.420/.542 with nine homers and eight doubles through the end of May. He’s down to a far less impressive .215/.318/.331 slash since the beginning of June. O’Hearn has been plagued by a meager .245 average on balls in play over this most recent stretch. His strikeout and walk profile remains strong, but his power output has dropped significantly. He only has three longballs over the past two months.
The slump is naturally a slight hit to O’Hearn’s trade value as Thursday’s deadline approaches. He’ll nevertheless be a popular target for teams looking for a boost against right-handed pitching. O’Hearn has a patient plate approach and has good if not elite batted ball metrics. He carries a strong .283/.348/.463 batting line when holding the platoon advantage going back to the start of 2023.
Baltimore is all but guaranteed to trade O’Hearn, who is a couple months from free agency. They presumably wouldn’t want to make him a qualifying offer, and they could give 23-year-old Coby Mayo everyday first base reps for the stretch run. O’Hearn is playing on an affordable $8MM salary, leaving roughly $2.5MM to be paid from the deadline on.
That should be a manageable sum for Milwaukee. They took on some money to fortify the backup catcher spot with tonight’s Danny Jansen trade. Jansen is another right-handed bat on a team that skews a little bit towards that side of the plate. They’re without lefty-hitting first baseman/corner outfielder Jake Bauers right now due to a shoulder impingement. O’Hearn is a better hitter than Bauers regardless. Andrew Vaughn has been playing first base every day with Rhys Hoskins also on the injured list. Vaughn has raked through his first 14 games in a Milwaukee uniform but hit .189/.218/.314 across 48 contests with the White Sox earlier in the year.
Stove simmering on auto pilot until Tuesday Morning/Afternoon!
Pass please
It’s him or Jon Singleton, pick your poison. Oh , perhaps old standby Mike Ford as well.
Or nobody. Where would O’Hearn play? Bench Yelich or Vaughn? There is no way Vaughn should ride the pine the way he’s going right now.
I know Hoskins wasn’t really lighting up the scoresheet and he’s still rehabbing, but Andrew Vaughn has been a revelation since he arrived. Why bring in another 1B option to muddy the waters?
I guess O’Hearn has played in the OF too, but they have Chourio, Yelich, Collins, Frelick, and Perkins who can play OF.
Doesn’t seem like the right fit imo.
My guess is they would wind up platooning them.
Because 14 games doesn’t mean anything.
lefty platoon for right Vaughn. gives more bench flexibility and righty\lefty HR threats off the bench. its not a needle mover type of move, but it doesn’t disrupt anything
Would the Orioles pay the remaining salary to get a better return? Or do the Brewers have a little more money available than they let on?
Attanasio already said money isn’t an issue, the price in prospects is what matters.
When did Attanasio EVER say this? For over 20 years, the bottom line has been served first, then his European soccer team, then investing in AmFam Field…THEN maybe the major league team.
Seriously b/c they had Tampa take on money when they traded for Jansen so…
He said it on Sunday. You could look it up: “Everything is on the table. At this point, you are paying for 1/3 of a season, the money doesn’t come into it, it is the prospects.”
You aren’t serious, right? Attanasio invests a lot in the team, maybe not in terms of Major League payroll, he spends his money intelligently. You think the league’s smallest market team has the best player development system in the league on accident? The fact the Brewers as the smallest market and are one of the best teams with all young, controllable talent? Instead of $40 million/year on Aaron Judge, he spends that money on the front office – guys like Matt Arnold. He spends on the advanced pitching lab, upgrading minor league facilities, and were one of the first teams in Venezuela – which is paying off with guys like Chourio and Jesus Made. Speak of Chourio, gave a record contract to a player who had yet to play a major league game. That contract is going to be a steal – again spending money intelligently. And the fan experience at the ballpark is incredible.
Look at other small market teams – the Pirates, A’s, Reds, the Rays, Marlins – they constantly spit in the face of their fans – make them go to minor league ballparks, trade off fan favorites when they are on cheap or controllable deals.
The Cardinals – who’s owner has been well documented investing nothing in their developmental system – and then having their top prospects bust every single year.
Speaking of Selig-Prieb – wasn’t it previous ownership (Wendy) that put together that joke of a team in the 90’s? The one who couldn’t cough up $900k to keep an all-time great in Paul Molitor? Attanasio at least keeps top players when it makes sense – Yelich, Braun, Hart, Gallardo, etc. He spends money on FAs when it makes sense like Lorenzo Cain. He keeps guys like Moustakas another year when it makes sense and lets them walk when dumb teams like the Reds give him a dumb contract. He was going to go to 5/125 for Adames, but anything over that was a bad deal – as we can see with how he is playing with the Giants.
And again, a team that went to the playoffs TWICE under Selig, is going to the playoffs for the ninth time under Attanasio in half the years Selig was in control. In a time when the payroll disparity between big and small market teams is larger than ever before, let’s be honest.
He also does spend more when a team is competitive for a World Series – go look at the payrolls for 2018 and 2019. I am as annoyed as the next fan when he asks for a new ballpark or pays attention to Norwich City, but lets be realistic here, he does great for a small market owner, especially compared to the slop most of the revenue sharing teams owners put out.
Jadher was always going to be traded by the deadline or lost for nothing in the Rule 5 draft in December. The Brewers needed to improve their bench – and Jadher’s rep as a Top 30 prospect allowed the Brewers to get more for him (in this case $$$).
Top to bottom- this is an excellent summary of Milwaukee baseball. In the 1990’s we were concerned the team may leave MKE. Attanasio, despite occasional concerns, has saved the franchise and makes Brewers baseball competitive.
Bud Selig saved baseball for Milwaukee by buying the pilots. And he helped small-market teams achieve greater measures of revenue sharing as commissioner. He was strapped as an owner. Not only did the Brewers lose Molitor without a competitive free-agent offer, but during that 1992 season Selig’s team took mighty Toronto down to the last weekend of the season in the AL East race — without the benefit of money for late-season acquisitions, But you are correct that Attanasio’s Brewers are making the most of the revenue they receive. The playing field could be evened out even more if Attanasio becomes the next commissioner, which is being considered.
Umm… yeah… everything this dude just PERFECTLY stated.
That said, Attanasio HAS said they can afford to add literally any contract for THIS season.
Selig was a great owner. The dark era of Brewers baseball started when they brought in Bando to be effectively the PBO and Wendy Selig-Prieb oversaw him.
But BUD Selig was a great owner. We had a top 3 Payroll a couple years in the 80’s.
@cheesemanforever
lol
What are you laughing at? He literally said they can add any contract. Any player. Should they have paid an extra 3M just for the hell of it?
I can see them paying his remaining contract for the right trade bait
Why bother Brewers, there’s a snowball’s chance you’ll make it to the series
Anyone can win in October, especially in shorter series…
Snowballs are our specialty in Wisconsin.
Snowball’s chance? You’re talking about the best record in baseball that just went 6-0 against the Dodgers. They’ve got to be one of the top contenders right now.
You say that as if we didn’t sweep the Dodgers. Twice.
Platoon him at 1B and at DH, send Seigler back to Nashville please — a wasted roster spot.
Seigler hurts my eyes every time I see him up to bat.
I feel like his sac fly last night was his Brewers career highlight.
Rowdy O’Hearn?
Typical Brewer possible acquisition. They can’t go over the obvious but silent roster quota!.
Say you get this guy. Where do you play him? What do you with two other recent typical Brewer acquisitions in fan favorite Hoskins and sudden fan favorite Vaughn? The OF? Who gets shipped out? Certainly not fan golden boy Frelick who the front office wants to make the face of the franchise.
Also might look into more bullpen help to avoid future issues with an already overworked relief staff. Because I don’t think two guys (Ashby & Hall) averaging 8 BB per 9 are the answers in the playoffs. I could be wrong?
Just because Mark A says it doesn’t make it true.
Btw, while the ballpark is above average for attending games. The cost to do so is in the upper half of MLB. Along with the high end seats are lousy for comfort in comparison to other ballpark seats that are exposed 24/7/365 to weather. See Minnesota, Pittsburgh, St. Louis among others. There’s only one reason those seats can’t be nicer.
I don’t see a reason for the brewers trading for a 1B when they have Vaughn and Hoskins coming back in late Aug
Both RHed