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Hunter Renfroe

Angels Acquire Hunter Renfroe From Brewers

By Anthony Franco | November 22, 2022 at 11:59pm CDT

The Angels’ early-offseason aggressiveness continues. The Halos announced the acquisition of outfielder Hunter Renfroe from the Brewers on Tuesday night. Pitchers Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris head to Milwaukee in return.

It’s the third early strike of the offseason for the Halos, who’ve already signed starter Tyler Anderson to a three-year free agent deal and acquired infielder Gio Urshela in a trade with the Twins. Now, they take a step towards fixing an outfield that had a major question mark alongside Mike Trout and Taylor Ward.

Renfroe should solidify the corner outfield spot opposite Ward. He’s been an above-average hitter in each of the past two seasons, with strikingly similar production for the Red Sox in 2021 and Brewers this year. The former first-rounder has combined for 60 home runs over the last two seasons, following up a 31-homer showing with the Sox with 29 more in Milwaukee. He had an identical .315 on-base percentage in each year but more than offset that modest number with big power production.

The right-handed hitter has hit between .255 and .260 in each of the last two years while slugging around .500 both seasons. He has a cumulative .257/.315/.496 line in just under 1100 plate appearances going back to the start of 2021. His 22.9% strikeout rate is right around average, while he’s walked at a slightly below-average 7.6% clip. He’s a lower-OBP slugger who has particularly decimated left-handed opposition. Renfroe carries a .269/.357/.508 line over that stretch while holding the platoon advantage. He’s had starker on-base concerns but hit for enough power to remain a decent option against right-handed pitching (.252/.292/.491).

That power production is Renfroe’s calling card, but he’s also a viable defender. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him right around league average in right field in each of the last three seasons. Statcast’s range-based metric has Renfroe a few runs below average annually, but he compensates for his fringy athleticism with top-tier arm strength. He’s picked up double-digit assists in each of the last two years, and he leads all MLB outfielders with 27 baserunners cut down in that time.

Renfroe’s excellent arm strength has kept him primarily in right field over the past few years, although he did log a number of innings in left earlier in his career. If he steps into right field at Angel Stadium, that’d push Ward over to left field. Former top prospect Jo Adell now looks as if he’ll be relegated to fourth outfield/bench duty after beginning his career with a .215/.259/.356 showing in roughly one full season’s worth of games. Adell is still just 23 years old and coming off a solid year in Triple-A Salt Lake, but the Angels don’t appear prepared to count on him for a regular role as they look to vault their way into the playoff picture in 2023.

As with last week’s Urshela trade, the Renfroe acquisition is about deepening the lineup with a productive but not elite veteran for a season. Renfroe turns 31 in January and is in his final season of club control. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $11.2MM salary, and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. That’s a reasonable sum for a player of this caliber, but one moderately expensive season of arbitration control over a lower-OBP corner slugger isn’t teeming with trade value. Renfroe is the second player of that ilk dealt in as many weeks.

The Blue Jays sent Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners for reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. That trade came as a surprise to a number of Toronto fans, but each of Swanson and Macko are arguably more appealing players than any of the trio of pitchers Milwaukee received in this swap. Hernández is a better hitter than Renfroe is, but the gap between the former’s .282/.332/.508 line over the past two seasons and the latter’s production isn’t all that dramatic. Nevertheless, Renfroe has had a hard time sticking in any one spot as his price tag has escalated throughout his arbitration seasons. The Halos will be his fifth team in as many years, as he’s successively played for the Padres, Rays, Red Sox and Brewers going back to 2019.

Adding his projected arbitration salary pushes the Halos’ estimated 2023 payroll up to around $192MM, per Roster Resource. That’d be the highest mark in franchise history, narrowly topping their approximate $189MM figure from this past season. They’re up to roughly $206MM in luxury tax commitments, around $27MM shy of the $233MM base threshold. The franchise’s spending capacity this winter has been in question with owner Arte Moreno exploring a sale of the franchise. There’s still no indication the club is willing to approach luxury tax territory, but the acquisitions of Anderson, Urshela and Renfroe have tacked on an estimated $31.9MM in 2023 spending. The latter two players represent one-year investments, but it seems Moreno is affording general manager Perry Minasian and his group some leeway to add to the roster in advance of the club’s final season of control over defending AL MVP runner-up Shohei Ohtani.

The Brewers add a trio of pitchers, two of whom already have big league experience. Junk is a former 22nd-round pick of the Yankees. He went to the Halos in the 2021 deadline deal that sent southpaw Andrew Heaney to the Bronx. The right-hander has pitched in seven MLB games over the past two seasons, starting six. He’s allowed a 4.74 ERA through 24 2/3 innings, striking out a below-average 19.4% of opponents but posting a sterling 4.4% walk rate.

Junk, 27 in January, leans primarily on a low-80s slider which prospect evaluators suggest could be an above-average pitch. He has decent spin on his 92-93 MPH four-seam but hasn’t cemented himself on a big league staff to this point. He spent most of this year on optional assignment to Salt Lake, where he posted a 4.64 ERA through 73 2/3 innings as a starter in a hitter-friendly environment. His 22.1% strikeout percentage was a touch below average, but he only walked 5.8% of opponents. The Seattle University product still has a pair of minor league option years remaining and can bounce between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville as rotation or middle relief depth.

Peguero, on the other hand, is a pure reliever. The righty debuted with three appearances as a COVID replacement late in the 2021 season. He earned a permanent 40-man roster spot last offseason and appeared in 13 games this year. Tasked with low-leverage innings, Peguero put up a 7.27 ERA across 17 1/3 innings. He only struck out 15.6% of opponents but got swinging strikes on a more impressive 12% of his total pitches. The Dominican Republic native induced grounders on roughly half the batted balls he surrendered in the majors.

He also had an excellent year in Salt Lake, where he tossed 44 1/3 frames of 2.84 ERA ball. Peguero fanned 27.5% of batters faced against a quality 7.1% walk rate and racked up grounders at a huge 57.5% clip. Like Junk, Peguero leaned primarily on a slider during his MLB look, although he throws much harder. Peguero’s slider checked in at 91 MPH on average while his fastball sat just north of 96. He turns 26 in March and also has two options remaining, so the Brewers can deploy him as an up-and-down middle reliever while hoping he can translate his Triple-A success against big league opponents.

Seminaris went in the fifth round in the 2020 draft out of Long Beach State. A 6’0″ southpaw, he wasn’t ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Anaheim system at Baseball America. He traversed three minor league levels this year, showing well at High-A against younger competition but struggling as he climbed the minor league ladder. Altogether, he worked 101 2/3 frames of 3.54 ERA ball with a 22.1% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk percentage. He’s not on the 40-man roster but will have to be added by the end of the 2023 season or be exposed in the Rule 5 draft.

While Milwaukee clearly likes all three mid-20’s hurlers, they’re each flexible depth options. Surely, a key motivator in the deal was reallocating Renfroe’s hefty arbitration projection. Slashing payroll wasn’t the sole impetus for the trade — the Brewers could’ve simply non-tendered Renfroe last week if they were committed to getting his money off the books — but GM Matt Arnold and his staff elected to clear some payroll room while bringing in a few depth arms of note.

The Brewers are projected for a salary around $115MM at Roster Resource thanks largely to an arbitration class that still includes Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames, among others. That’s about $17MM shy of this year’s Opening Day mark, and more roster shuffling figures to be on the horizon. Dealing a complementary player like Renfroe doesn’t suggest the Brewers are about to flip any of Burnes, Woodruff or Adames, but Milwaukee could consider moving second baseman Kolten Wong or a depth starter like Adrian Houser or Eric Lauer. They’ve already drawn some interest from the Mariners on Wong and are sure to contemplate a number of ways to try to balance the present and the future.

Milwaukee could now dip into the lower tiers of the free agent corner outfield market to backfill for Renfroe’s absence, with Tyrone Taylor standing as the current favorite for playing time alongside Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield. Highly-touted young players like Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer could play their way into the mix midseason, but it’d be a surprise if the Brewers didn’t add at least one veteran outfielder before Opening Day.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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Los Angeles Angels Milwaukee Brewers Newsstand Transactions Elvis Peguero Hunter Renfroe Janson Junk Jo Adell

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Brewers Designate Chi Chi Gonzalez For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | July 12, 2022 at 3:30pm CDT

The Brewers announced that outfielder Hunter Renfroe has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. To make room for him on the active roster, right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez has been designated for assignment. Their 40-man roster is now at 39.

Gonzalez, 30, has been filling up transaction logs this year, as this is his second DFA, in addition to once being removed from the roster as a COVID “substitute”. He started the year on a minor league deal with the Twins, getting added to the big league roster in early June for a series in Toronto in which four unvaccinated players couldn’t cross the border. He was removed a day later but selected back to the roster in mid-June. That second stay also just lasted a single day, with his first DFA of the season leading to a waiver claim from the Brewers.

Milwaukee’s pitching staff had been a bit dented at the time by Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta landing on the injured list. They subsequently also lost Aaron Ashby and Adrian Houser to the IL, but Woodruff and Ashby have now returned, diminishing the need for Gonzalez’s services after close to a month on the team.

Gonzalez didn’t do much to warrant sticking around, as he’s put up a 6.87 ERA in 18 1/3 innings this year. That’s is a small sample, but his 15.2% strikeout rate is well below league average, although he did limit walks to a 5.1% pace. Gonzalez is out of options, making the Brewers unable to send him to the minors.

He did spend some time in the minors with the Twins before being selected, where he showed enough promise to get called up. In 36 2/3 frames in Triple-A this year, he had a 3.44 ERA, 23.2% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 55.7% ground ball rate. The Brewers will have one week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him. If he clears waivers, he would have the ability to reject an outright assignment by virtue of having been previously outrighted in his career.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Chi Chi Gonzalez Hunter Renfroe

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Brewers Activate Aaron Ashby From 15-Day IL

By Mark Polishuk | July 2, 2022 at 3:04pm CDT

The Brewers reinstated left-hander Aaron Ashby from the 15-day injured list today, as Ashby is slated to start today’s game against the Pirates.  Righty Trevor Kelley was optioned to Triple-A to open up a 26-man roster spot.

Following his (retroactive) IL placement on June 17, Ashby ended up missing only a minimal amount of time — a sigh of relief, given that Ashby had been sidelined by forearm inflammation. The injury wasn’t considered to be too serious at the time, and Ashby will indeed make a pretty quick return to help a Milwaukee rotation that has been shorthanded for much of the season. Even with Ashby and (earlier this week) Brandon Woodruff returning, Freddy Peralta is still on the 60-day IL until late July, and Adrian Houser was just placed on the 15-day IL yesterday due to a flexor strain.

Ashby will try to pick up the slack by continuing what has been a pretty solid sophomore year in the big leagues.  Beginning the season as a swingman, Ashby’s last five outings were all as a starting pitcher.  The left-hander has a 4.25 ERA over 55 total innings, posting a 62.6% grounder rate and an impressive array of Statcast numbers, apart from a 10.7% walk rate that is well below the league average. Control has been something of an issue for Ashby at both the MLB and minor league levels, but his ability to miss bats and generate grounders makes him yet another intriguing product of the Brewers’ pitching development system.

In other Brewers injury news, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) that Luis Perdomo is “struggling to get going” from an elbow injury that sent him to the IL back in late May. Perdomo underwent a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2021 season, though Counsell didn’t give any indication that Perdomo’s current issue was also season-threatening, or something that could require another surgical procedure.

Hunter Renfroe will also still miss a bit more time, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy writes that Renfroe has yet to start running on the field following a calf strain that sent him to the injured list over a week ago. Renfroe’s 10-day minimum IL time expires on Sunday, but the Brewers will continue to be cautious in bringing Renfroe back, for fear of exacerbating the injury.  Renfroe had 13 home runs and a .247/.300/.490 slash line over his first 217 plate appearances this season.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Aaron Ashby Hunter Renfroe Luis Perdomo Trevor Kelley

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Brewers Place Hunter Renfroe On IL With Calf Strain

By Darragh McDonald | June 26, 2022 at 9:55am CDT

The Brewers announced that outfielder Hunter Renfroe has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 23, with a left calf strain. Infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes was recalled to take his place on the active roster.

Losing Renfroe’s bat is a notable blow to the Brewers’ lineup, as he’s been arguably the club’s best hitter this season. Acquired in an offseason trade with the Red Sox, Renfroe is hitting .247/.300/.490. His wRC+ of 116 is the highest among Milwaukee hitters with at least 200 plate appearances.

The club hasn’t provided any updates about the severity of the issue or an expected timeline, but it’s perhaps worth pointing out that calf strains are notoriously tricky to deal with. For example, Mike Trout landed on the IL with a calf strain in May of last year. Although he was expected to return in 6-8 weeks, it ended up wiping out the remainder of his season. Of course, every injury is different and it’s entirely possible that Renfroe is dealing with a much milder issue than the one Trout faced last year.

The Brewers are 41-33, tied with the Cardinals for the NL Central lead. However, they are a pitching-heavy team that doesn’t have an elite offense. The entire team’s batting line on the season is .232/.311/.401. That amounts to a wRC+ of 99, just a hair below league average. With one of their most-productive hitters now sidelined for an undetermined amount of time, that’s likely to go in the wrong direction.

This also further depletes an outfield mix that already subtracted Lorenzo Cain in recent weeks. With Renfroe sitting out the past few days, the club has slotted Christian Yelich, Andrew McCutchen, Tyrone Taylor and Jonathan Davis through the outfield positions and designated hitter role. All four of that group have a wRC+ between 83 and 101, fitting the team’s theme of mediocre offensive output.

Even before this injury, the outfield stood out as an area where the Brewers could look to improve at the trade deadline. If this injury should linger and keep Renfroe out of action through the August 2 cutoff, it should only enhance Milwaukee’s resolve to make an addition of some kind on the grass.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Hunter Renfroe

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Brewers Place Hunter Renfroe On Injured List, Select Mark Mathias

By Anthony Franco | May 24, 2022 at 6:50pm CDT

The Brewers have placed corner outfielder Hunter Renfroe on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. Milwaukee selected infielder Mark Mathias onto the big league roster in a corresponding move. The Brewers’ 40-man roster tally now sits at 38.

Milwaukee acquired Renfroe from the Red Sox over the winter, attaching prospects David Hamilton and Alex Binelas to the contract of Jackie Bradley Jr. in order to bring in Renfroe. The power-hitting outfielder had made a favorable impression on his new club, hitting .266/.303/.503 with nine home runs through 155 plate appearances. That’s been a marked upgrade over Bradley’s .163/.236/.261 production as the primary right fielder last season, a much-needed boost for a Milwaukee team that was middle-of-the-pack offensively in 2021. Manager Craig Counsell suggested to reporters (including Sophia Minnaert of Bally Sports Wisconsin) the club expects Renfroe back within ten to fourteen days.

Mathias is back in the majors for the first time this season. The Brew Crew had outrighted the right-handed hitter off their 40-man roster last November on the heels of a campaign lost to shoulder surgery. Mathias returned to health this year and has earned his way back with an incredible showing at Triple-A Nashville. Over 106 plate appearances, he’s hitting .341/.425/.549 with four home runs. Mathias has also walked in an impressive 11.3% of his trips to the dish while only striking out 19.8% of the time.

That work earns the 27-year-old his first MLB call in two years. A former Cleveland prospect, Mathias tallied 36 plate appearances over 16 games for the Brewers in 2020. That marks the entirety of his big league experience to date, but he’s a .262/.356/.406 hitter in parts of six minor league seasons. Mathias has experience at each of second base, third base and shortstop. The bulk of that playing time has come at the keystone.

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Milwaukee Brewers Transactions Hunter Renfroe Mark Mathias

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Injury Notes: Bryant, Renfroe, Lynn

By Steve Adams | May 24, 2022 at 1:44pm CDT

Rockies left fielder Kris Bryant was scratched from yesterday’s game about 90 minutes before first pitch due to continued discomfort in his back, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. He’ll be further evaluated today, but it’s an ominous scratch given that Bryant only just returned from a month-long absence due to a lower back injury.

Signed to a seven-year, $182MM contract in free agency this past offseason, Bryant was viewed by the Rockies as a potential lineup centerpiece who’d bolster a revamped outfield that also featured trade acquisition Randal Grichuk. Bryant, however, has gotten out to a tepid .270/.342/.333 start to the season and yet to put a ball in the seats. The Rox barely changed the rest of their roster but did sign four in-house players to multi-year extensions (Ryan McMahon, Antonio Senzatela, C.J. Cron and Elias Diaz). Ownership and the restructured/thinned-out front office group clearly had confidence that last year’s group could deliver better results, and while that’s been true to an extent, the Rox are currently at fifth place in the NL West with a 19-22 record.

Some more injury scenarios to keep an eye on…

  • Brewers outfielder Hunter Renfroe exited yesterday’s game due to hamstring discomfort after scoring from first base on a double and is headed for an MRI to determine the extent of any damage he may have suffered, tweets MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Acquired in the offseason trade that saw the Brewers dump Jackie Bradley Jr.’s contract on the Red Sox — Milwaukee also sent a pair of prospects to Boston in the deal — Renfroe is out to a solid .266/.303/.503 start this season. His nine homers place him in a three-way tie for the team lead alongside Rowdy Tellez and Willy Adames. However, like Renfroe, Adames is currently sidelined; the Brewers placed him on the 10-day injured list last week, owing to a high ankle sprain. If Renfroe is to join Adames on the injured list, that’ll mean 29% of the Brewers’ home runs are sitting out at a time when the team has generally been struggling to score runs. Milwaukee ranks seventh in the Majors with 195 runs (4.6 per game), but they’re averaging just 3.5 runs per contest over their past 10 games.
  • Right-hander Lance Lynn has yet to make his 2022 debut with the White Sox after undergoing spring knee surgery, but he’ll throw to live hitters for the second time in his rehab process today, as noted by MLB.com’s Betelhem Ashame. Lynn, who also faced hitters this past Friday, inked a two-year, $38MM extension with the Sox last summer just prior to the trade deadline. The 35-year-old Lynn had a career year with the South Siders in 2021, pitching to a 2.69 ERA in 157 innings over the life of 28 starts, and he’s posted a terrific 3.26 ERA in 449 1/3 frames dating back to 2020.
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Chicago White Sox Colorado Rockies Milwaukee Brewers Notes Hunter Renfroe Kris Bryant Lance Lynn

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Brewers Acquire Hunter Renfroe From Red Sox For Jackie Bradley Jr., Two Prospects

By Anthony Franco | December 1, 2021 at 10:32pm CDT

The Red Sox and Brewers announced agreement on a trade sending corner outfielder Hunter Renfroe to Milwaukee. In return, the Red Sox are reacquiring longtime center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and two prospects, infielders David Hamilton and Alex Binelas.

It’s an out-of-the-blue swap pulled off just minutes before the work stoppage. Renfroe, 30 next month, is coming off a solid season. Signed by the Red Sox to a $3.1MM guarantee last winter, the former first-round pick emerged as Boston’s primary right fielder. He tallied 572 plate appearances and hit .259/.315/.501 with 31 home runs. By measure of wRC+, Renfroe’s overall offensive output was 14 percentage points above the league average in 2021, tied for the highest mark of his career.

Renfroe rated as a league average defender by measure of Defensive Runs Saved. He tied for the league lead with 16 outfield assists, often showcasing a cannon of an arm that scouts have lauded since his days as a prospect. But both DRS and Statcast’s Outs Above Average pegged his range as a bit below average, with the overall glovework coming out fairly middle-of-the-road.

Even if he’s not likely to win a Gold Glove, Renfroe is a capable right fielder who figures to assume a similar everyday role in Milwaukee. The Brewers lost Avisaíl García to the Marlins in free agency and seemed likely to rely on some combination of Bradley and Tyrone Taylor in right field. Each of Renfroe or Taylor could now spell veteran Lorenzo Cain in center field in the case of rest days or injury for the 35-year-old.

Renfroe steps in to upgrade that mix and add some punch to a Milwaukee lineup that ranked just 17th in slugging percentage this past season despite playing its home games in one of the league’s more hitter-friendly environments. He remains controllable via arbitration through the end of the 2023 season (barring changes to the service time structure in the next collective bargaining agreement). He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $7.6MM salary in 2022.

That’s a bit cheaper than Bradley, who will play next season on a $9.5MM deal after exercising a player option last month. Renfroe’s also coming off a far superior showing, as Bradley had a nightmarish 2021 campaign at the plate. Milwaukee signed Bradley to a two-year guarantee last offseason, but he managed only a .163/.236/.261 mark over his 428 plate appearances with the Brew Crew.

By measure of wRC+, Bradley’s offensive numbers were an astounding 65 points below league average. That ranked last among the 262 hitters with 300+ trips to the plate, with essentially nothing going right for Bradley offensively. His strikeout rate spiked to a career-high 30.8%, while his walk percentage dipped to a personal-low 6.5%. Bradley’s six home runs marked his lowest total in seven years, as did his .095 ISO (slugging minus batting average).

To his credit, Bradley continued to play his typical brand of excellent defense. The former Gold Glove winner rated as twelve runs above average over his 915 1/3 innings on the grass. Statcast, meanwhile, estimated he was worth four Outs Above Average. Yet even a gloveman as excellent as Bradley isn’t providing much overall value with an offensive showing as poor as he had in 2021.

It’s not especially surprising the Milwaukee front office was looking for opportunities to upgrade over Bradley’s spot in the lineup, and they found one via his old team. While the Brewers will add an offensive upgrade, the Red Sox bring Bradley back to Boston in hopes that a return to that environment can unlock some of his prior production. Bradley was a fan favorite and generally strong player over nearly a decade with the Red Sox, first joining the organization as a supplemental first-round pick in 2010.

Bradley became an important member of the Sox’s lineup by 2014, spending most of the next seven seasons as a regular. His highlight-reel defense in center endeared him to the Boston faithful, and the left-handed hitter occasionally flashed potential on offense. His final season with the Red Sox was one of his best, as Bradley hit .283/.364/.450 with seven homers and five steals across 217 plate appearances during the truncated 2020 campaign.

The Boston front office will take a shot on a rebound at the plate while presumably installing Bradley back into the center field mix. Doing so would free up utilityman Enrique Hernández to play second base more frequently, with Alex Verdugo and top prospect Jarren Duran flanking Bradley on the corners. Of course, the Sox could look for future additions to the position player mix, with a right-handed hitting outfielder capable of complementing the lefty-swinging trio of Verdugo, Bradley and Duran standing out as an obvious fit.

Bradley’s contract also contains a $12MM mutual option for 2023 that comes with an $8MM buyout. The Red Sox are assuming a decent chunk of guaranteed money down the line in order to acquire a pair of fairly well-regarded young position players. Each of Hamilton and Binelas was ranked by Baseball America among Milwaukee’s top 20 prospects midseason.

Hamilton, 24, was an eighth-rounder of the University of Texas in 2019. He sat out that season recovering from an Achilles rupture he’d suffered during his junior year with the Longhorns, and last year’s canceled minor league campaign meant he didn’t play in affiliated ball until 2021. The left-handed hitter split his time between High-A and Double-A, hitting .259/.341/.419 with eight homers and 52 stolen bases across 459 plate appearances. Unsurprisingly given that impressive steal tally, the 5’10” middle infielder draws strong marks from scouts for his speed and athleticism, in addition to a sound approach at the plate.

Binelas, 21, was the Brewers’ third-round pick in last summer’s draft. Regarded as a potential first round talent entering his final season at the University of Louisville, he slumped through a down year that dealt a blow to his stock. The left-handed hitter did his best to put that behind him over a brief showing in Low-A after draft day, though, hitting .314/.379/.636 with nine homers in 132 trips to the plate.

A corner infielder, Binelas spent the bulk of his time in college and in the minors at third base. BA suggested midseason it looked unlikely he’d stick at the hot corner and projected his future lying at first or perhaps in left field. Binelas will need to hit to carry that profile, but he’s flashed power, plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills in the past. His strong showing in Low-A — while somewhat to be expected for a player drafted out of one of the top conferences in college baseball — is a strong start in that regard.

Altogether, it’s a fascinating deal — likely the final swap we’ll see for quite some time with a transaction freeze now in place. The Brewers lock in a much-needed lineup upgrade to replace a player they lost on the open market. The Red Sox improve a spotty team defense while bringing back a player who’s had plenty of success in their uniform in years past, taking on a fair bit of long-term money to also add some younger talent to the organization.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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Boston Red Sox Milwaukee Brewers Newsstand Transactions Alex Binelas David Hamilton Hunter Renfroe Jackie Bradley Jr.

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Red Sox Notes: Kim, Hernández, Arroyo, Bradley Jr.

By TC Zencka | January 3, 2021 at 3:13pm CDT

Before making San Diego his new baseball home, Ha-Seong Kim was courted by the Red Sox, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. The South Korean infielder ultimately signed with the Padres for four-years, $28MM, in part because he preferred the weather of a west coast team, writes Abraham. Blue skies and sunshine are a clear tiebreak in the Friars’ favor, not to mention the current competitive advantage the Padres hold over the Red Sox. He’ll have a shorter leash in San Diego with Jake Cronenworth pushing for reps, but with their rebuilt rotation, the Padres figure to be an exciting franchise for which to suit up in 2021, even on days when he has to watch from the bench.

For Boston, Kim would have fit nicely into their rebuilding efforts given his youth, versatility, and short-term fit at second base. They have been active in the international market thus far this winter, but without much to show for it. Kim would have found himself among peers by age in Boston, with Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, Michael Chavis, Bobby Dalbec, and Marcus Wilson all within a year of Kim’s 25.2 years of age. Alas, Chavis remains the likeliest volume producer at the keystone for Alex Cora’s squad, at least until Jeter Downs or someone else proves ready. Elsewhere…

  • Speaking of the Red Sox, they continue to make broad inroads into the free agent market, looking primarily for pitchers and a second baseman. Kiké Hernández is one target that remains a possibility, said Masslive’s Chris Cotillo on the IV The Love Of Sports podcast. Internally, Christian Arroyo continues to be a name of interest, notes Cotillo, but he’s unlikely to be the full-stop, number-one option at second base entering the season. On the pitching side, Cotillo suggests Boston could add two starters for the rotation before opening day.
  • They remain in contact with long-time centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., per Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald. The Red Sox have filled their dance card in the outfield, at least in terms of name recognition with Alex Verdugo, Andrew Benintendi, and Hunter Renfroe on the roster, but all three carry some uncertainty – and none of the three are true centerfielders. Jarren Duran also figures to push for a big league role this season. Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom indicated that a resolution on this front probably isn’t coming in the near-term. A relative dearth of centerfield options on the open market gives JBJ a potentially robust collection of suitors to consider.
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Boston Red Sox Free Agent Market Notes Christian Arroyo Enrique Hernandez Ha-Seong Kim Hunter Renfroe Jackie Bradley Jr.

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Red Sox Sign Hunter Renfroe

By Anthony Franco | December 14, 2020 at 11:26am CDT

The Red Sox announced they’ve signed outfielder Hunter Renfroe to a one-year contract (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He’ll be guaranteed a base salary of $3.1MM with an additional $600K available in incentives, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).

Renfroe, 29 in January, became a free agent after he was outrighted by the Rays last month. Tampa Bay decided it wasn’t prepared to tender him an arbitration contract, projected in the $4MM range, on the heels of a disastrous 2020 season. The right-handed hitter managed just a .156/.252/.393 slash line with eight homers over 139 plate appearances in his lone season in Tampa Bay. That certainly wasn’t what the Rays had in mind when they acquired Renfroe as part of the deal that sent Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth to the Padres last offseason.

That the Rays were willing to part with talented players to bring Renfroe aboard in the first place, though, speaks to the decent player he’d become in San Diego. Between 2018-19, Renfroe hit .231/.295/.496 with 59 home runs (106 wRC+). That made him slightly better than the average hitter in aggregate, but the shape of that production was more variable. Over the course of his career, Renfroe has mashed (.258/.339/.573) against left-handed pitching, while posting subpar numbers (.216/.268/.449) against righties. That could point to a future as the short side of a platoon, but Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic) Renfroe could be an everyday option in the grass.

That’s a testament to his defensive aptitude. Despite his size, Renfroe has generally rated as a strong corner outfielder. Over the past three seasons, he’s racked up 23 defensive runs saved between left and right field. Much of that value comes from his plus arm, although Statcast’s range-based metric also pegs Renfroe at five outs above average in that time. That defensive prowess has helped differentiate the former first-rounder from other on-base deficient sluggers around the league. During his final two seasons in San Diego, Renfroe accrued a solid four to five wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

If he can recapture that level of production, Renfroe could find a home in Boston for a few seasons. He remains controllable via arbitration through 2023. In the immediate future, he joins an outfield consisting of Alex Verdugo and Andrew Benintendi (as well as primary designated hitter J.D. Martinez).

Both Verdugo and Benintendi worked in the corner outfield last season in deference to Jackie Bradley Jr. Either could be capable of replacing Bradley, who has since hit free agency, if the Sox see Renfroe as an everyday player. Bloom told reporters (Cotillo link) that Verdugo would open the season in centerfield as things stand but didn’t rule out the possibility of future additions to the outfield.

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Boston Red Sox Newsstand Transactions Hunter Renfroe

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Hunter Renfroe, Brian O’Grady Become Free Agents

By Connor Byrne | November 25, 2020 at 3:44pm CDT

Rays outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Brian O’Grady have cleared waivers and become free agents, Juan Toribio of MLB.com tweets. The Rays designated both players for assignment last week.

Renfroe was a relatively high-profile acquisition for the Rays last winter, when they landed him in a trade with the Padres. He was coming off a 33-home run season at that point, but Renfroe wasn’t nearly that productive in his lone campaign with the Rays. The 28-year-old slashed just .156/.252/.393 (76 wRC+) with eight home runs in 139 plate appearances in 2020. Consequently, neither the Rays nor any other team deemed him worthy of a projected $3.5MM arbitration salary for next year.

O’Grady, also 28, became a Ray when they got him from the Reds before last season. He amassed 48 plate appearances with the Reds in 2019 and batted .190/.292/.429 with two home runs. O’Grady only totaled five PA with the Rays in 2020, however.

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Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Brian O'Grady Hunter Renfroe

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