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Brewers Option Keston Hiura, Activate Travis Shaw

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The Brewers have optioned second baseman Keston Hiura, the club announced today. He’ll leave the active roster to make way for the activation of Travis Shaw, who had been rehabbing a wrist injury.

Hiura, 22, certainly hasn’t shown himself in capable of keeping up at the game’s highest level. To the contrary, he’s slashing a hefty .281/.333/.531 with five home runs in 69 plate appearances. While there’s much to be desired in his combination of 23 strikeouts and three walks, Hiura has largely confirmed that the Brewers and prospect watchers were right to expect big things right out of the gates.

It’s tough to see that batting line leave the active roster, particularly given Shaw’s struggles to open the year. He’ll presumably return to his customary duties at the hot corner, with Mike Moustakas going back to second base. The defensive alignment is suboptimal, but passable; it’s the hitting department where this decision will likely be judged.

Before he hit the shelf, the 29-year-old Shaw managed only a .163/.266/.281 slash in 154 plate appearances. That’s far shy of the output he delivered in his first two seasons in Milwaukee, during which he launched 63 home runs and batted a cumulative .258/.347/.497.

GM David Stearns explained to reporters that the club made this move to “preserv[e] organizational depth.” (Via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; links to Twitter.) Of course, Shaw could have been optioned down instead of Hiura, but Stearns says the veteran has earned the right to step back into the MLB lineup. That doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to stay there. The pressure will be on Shaw and struggling first baseman Jesus Aguilar, who is out of options.

Stearns rejected the notion that service time played a role in the decision. Whether or not that was a motivating factor, there are implications for both players. Hiura’s initial promotion occurred on May 14th, meaning he could have run up 139 days of service by remaining in the majors all year long. That would have set him up for potential future Super Two qualification. Unless he comes back rather quickly, that’ll no longer be the case. On Shaw’s side, he’ll get the opportunity to reestablish his stock and boost his arbitration earning power by returning to the MLB roster. He has a strong starting point with this year’s $4.675MM salary, though that also means he’ll need to improve in order to be tendered by the Brewers (or command good money in free agency if he isn’t).

Travis Shaw Nearing Rehab Assignment

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Injured Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw is slated to begin a rehab assignment Wednesday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports. Shaw has been on the injured list since May 14 because of a wrist issue.

Shaw’s injury led to the promotion of highly touted second base prospect Keston Hiura, who hasn’t gotten off to a dazzling start but did post a two-hit game with his first career home run in a win over the Braves on Sunday. Hiura’s already just three homers short of Shaw, a key Brewers contributor from 2017-18 who has come out of the gates slowly this year. So far, Shaw’s slashing a paltry .163/.266/.281 with four HRs in 154 plate appearances. After combining for 7.1 fWAR over the previous two seasons, Shaw has recorded minus-0.8 in that category to rank second to last among position players in 2019. He’s also second from the bottom in wRC+ (46), which is a far cry from the 119 mark he registered from 2017-18.

While Shaw’s batting average on balls in play is an ultra-low .222, poor fortune’s certainly not the sole reason for his horrid numbers. Looking under the hood, alarming trends abound. Shaw’s running a career-worst strikeout rate (32.5 percent, up from 18.4 last season), a .119 ISO that comes up 120 points shy of the figure he recorded during the past two seasons, a skyrocketing swinging-strike rate (14.4 percent, compared to 8.2 in 2018) and a plummeting contact rate (67.7 percent, down from a personal-best 81.4 percent last season).

Although the 29-year-old Shaw was a vital cog in Milwaukee during his first two seasons in the organization, the Brew Crew could relegate him to the bench if he doesn’t rebound upon returning from the IL. Veteran third baseman Mike Moustakas opened the season at second base to accommodate Shaw, whom he has easily outproduced, and now the presence of Hiura has sent Moustakas back to the hot corner.

Brewers To Designate Cory Spangenberg; Travis Shaw Likely Headed To IL

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The Brewers appear to have lined up roster moves to accommodate the promotion of second baseman Keston Hiura. Milwaukee will designate utilityman Cory Spangenberg for assignment, per an announcement from the club’s San Antonio affiliate. And it appears likely that third baseman Travis Shaw will head to the IL with a wrist injury, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Spangenberg had been stationed at San Antonio to open the year after signing onto the MLB roster (albeit on a split contract) over the offseason. The former first-round draft pick struggled to a .212/.305/.317 batting line in his 118 plate appearances, tallying forty strikeouts along the way.

It hasn’t been a pleasant start to the season for Shaw, either. The 29-year-old is carrying only a .163/.266/.281 batting line with four home runs and fifty strikeouts. That’s well shy of the strong offensive output he has provided the Brew Crew over the past two campaigns. Shaw played last night without evident issue; the severity of his wrist issue isn’t yet known.

NL Central Notes: Ozuna, Shaw, Hader, Maddon

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Cardinals left fielder Marcell Ozuna was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup after experiencing pain in his torso, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Goold further tweets that Ozuna is headed for an MRI tomorrow, and manager Mike Shildt expressed some concern about a potential intercostal strain. It’s a frustrating development for both team and player, as Ozuna was hoping to bounce back from an injury-marred 2018 season in which ongoing shoulder issues hampered his swing. The Cardinals, meanwhile, were hoping that a healthier Ozuna could pair with offseason acquisition Paul Goldschmidt to bolster the middle of the batting order. If Ozuna needs to miss time, Tyler O’Neill could step into a larger role with the club, and Jose Martinez (who started in place of Ozuna today) could get some additional at-bats as well.

More from the NL Central…

  • In light of the recent wave of extensions throughout Major League Baseball, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com asked a few Brewers players about their thoughts on some recent deals and their own willingness to engage in discussions. Third baseman Travis Shaw stated that he’s “open for business” when it comes to talking about a potential long-term deal to keep in Milwaukee beyond the 2021 season (currently slated to be his final season of team control). Late-inning terminator Josh Hader, meanwhile, suggested that his current focus is more on playing baseball than thinking about that side of the game. “If they feel they want to do an extension, then that’s the business side of it,” said Hader. “They control that.” The 24-year-old Hader has not yet even accumulated two full years of Major League service time and remains under club control through the 2023 season. Milwaukee president of baseball ops David Stearns added to McCalvy that while he’s not closed off to extension talks during the season, “there’s a reason” most deals are completed before Opening Day.
  • Cubs skipper Joe Maddon said Wednesday that the two-year extension signed by managerial peer Terry Francona doesn’t have him thinking about his own contract status (link via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun Times). “I’ve been treated more than well,” said Maddon. “So I don’t lament or worry about things like that.” Maddon added that he’s not in the business of comparing himself to other skippers throughout the league. Wittenmyer, however, notes that Maddon’s current $6MM salary is substantially higher than the rates at which the influx of younger managers are being paid throughout the league. That, certainly, will be a factor in negotiations with the Cubs (or any other club, if he is not retained).

Mike Moustakas Could Play Second Base For Brewers

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When word of Mike Moustakas’ impending return to the Brewers broke, the assumption among many was that the Milwaukee organization would utilize the same defensive alignment as in 2019: Travis Shaw shifting over to second base and Moustakas handling third base. However, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets that the Brewers will use Spring Training to determine if Moustakas is able to handle second base. If the team is satisfied with what it sees, Moustakas will be the primary second baseman, with Shaw remaining at third base.

While the arrangement likely isn’t one that many would anticipate, it does have the potential to be the best of their options. Shaw, after all, has turned in quite strong defensive marks at the hot corner since coming to Milwaukee, recording 22 Defensive Runs Saved and a +3.5 Ultimate Zone Rating across the past few seasons. Moustakas, meanwhile, has been average or slightly better for most of the past four seasons (with his return year from surgery to repair an ACL tear standing out as an understandable exception).

If Moustakas is able to play even competently at second base, the Brewers could enjoy the benefit of retaining a plus defender at the hot corner. Of course, if the experiment doesn’t yield dividends, there’ll be a fair bit of second-guessing as to why the Brewers didn’t simply acquire a truer option at second base. The market certainly had — and still has — alternatives. Marwin Gonzalez, Josh Harrison and Logan Forsythe are among the currently available players, and it’s worth pointing out that the Brewers were seemingly willing to pay more to play Moustakas out of position than they’d have needed to pay to simply sign Brian Dozier, who went to the Nationals for one year and $9MM.

Of course, the 30-year-old Moustakas is coming off of his fourth-straight season of above-average offensive work, with his consistent power making up for less-than-certain on-base numbers. And the Brewers know well what they are getting, having seen Moustakas up close down the stretch in 2018. In any event, it’ll be fascinating to see how the experiment pans out.

NL Central Notes: Taillon, Brewers, Shaw, Perez, Reds

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Contract extensions, including deals for right-handers Aaron Nola (Phillies) and Luis Severino (Yankees), have been a dominant story across Major League Baseball this week. Sooner than later, the Pirates should follow the Phillies and Yankees in inking their own excellent young righty, Jameson Taillon, for the long haul, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review opines. Unlike Philly and New York, both of which secured their aces to four-year guarantees worth $40MM or more, Pittsburgh’s not a big spender, perhaps making it all the more important for the Bucs to lock up Taillon at an affordable price in the near future. However, Taillon – who still has four years of control remaining, including three arbitration-eligible seasons – revealed this week that he and the club “haven’t talked about anything” yet. Barring an unexpected change, the 27-year-old will pitch this season for a relative pittance after logging a 3.20 ERA/3.46 FIP with 8.43 K/9 and 2.17 BB/9 over 191 innings in 2018.

More from the NL Central…

  • Like Taillon, Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw hasn’t discussed an extension with his club, he told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and other reporters Saturday. Shaw did note that he’d like to be a long-term Brewer, though, and won’t take umbrage at shifting to second base if the team re-signs free-agent third baseman Mike Moustakas. Shaw saw his first major league action at the keystone last year, when he made 39 appearances there (compared to 107 at third). Offensively, the soon-to-be 29-year-old delivered his second straight season of 30-plus home runs, helping him notch his second consecutive campaign with at least 3.5 fWAR. Now in his third-last year of team control, Shaw will earn a team-friendly $4.675MM salary.
  • One of Shaw’s fellow Brewers infielders, Hernan Perez, underwent offseason surgery to remove a bone chip in his left wrist, Haudricourt writes. While Perez didn’t mention the injury last season, “it was bothering me a lot,” he said Saturday. The 27-year-old is healthy now, however, and unless the Brewers make a spring acquisition in the form of Moustakas or another infielder, Perez could see substantial playing time again in 2019. From 2016-18, Perez amassed 1,222 plate appearances – including 334 last season – though he combined to hit just .262/.294/.411 during that three-year period.
  • The Reds have been one of the majors’ most active teams in recent months, and they remain “open for business,” according to president Dick Williams (via John Fay and Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Williams likes the team as it’s currently constructed, but he added, “We have some resources to do deals if we find the right ones.” It’s out of the question Cincinnati will pursue Bryce Harper or Manny Machado in free agency, and it’s unlikely it’ll go back after previous target Dallas Keuchel, Fay and Nightengale suggest. Rather, the Reds could look to bolster their depth, specifically in center field and at a shortstop, per Fay and Nightengale.

NL Notes: Brewers, Moustakas, Shaw, Marlins, Anderson

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A return to Milwaukee for Mike Moustakas “seems inevitable,” writes The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, who also suspects the Crew aren’t willing to extend a multi-year offer to the 30-year-old third baseman. Moustakas, who yet again has garnered little interest in his repeat foray into the free-agent market, would figure to reprise his role as the team’s primary third baseman, shifting Travis Shaw across the diamond to second. Moose’s 105 wRC+ output was slightly down from the previous three seasons, though his hard-hit rate jumped to a career-best 41.2%. His ZiPS projection, released yesterday on FanGraphs, shines brightly, perhaps as a result: the system forecasts a 116 OPS+/3.2 WAR output for the longtime Royal, seeing him as an easily above-average big-league third baseman. MLB teams, it seems, are hardly in accord.

Here’s more from around the NL . . .

  • Milwaukee, who’s yet to tire of yo-yoing Shaw back and forth from second to third, also hasn’t begun extension talks with the now-versatile 28-year-old, reports Rosenthal. Fresh off his third 118 or better wRC+ season in four years, the former ninth-round selection of the Red Sox has found a home in Wisconsin, turning in consecutive 3.5+ fWAR campaigns in his first two seasons with the team. Peripherals paint an even better picture: Shaw upped his walk rate by nearly four percent, to 13.3, and dropped his strikeout rate to a career-low 18.4%, his first MLB season under 20 in the category. Though the minor-league track record was mostly stellar, save for two stints in AAA, the son of longtime MLB closer Jeff Shaw was never a highly-touted prospect, even in the hyped-up Boston system, and it’s certainly possible that the Brewers would like to see more before offering him a hefty chunk of change. Still, another season like the last two, and it may not be Milwaukee on the next deal’s bottom line.
  • The quartet of prospects sent from Milwaukee to Miami in the Christian Yelich deal, headlined by the trio of Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison, and Isan Diaz, top 100 guys all, have yet to look the part. Still, Miami doesn’t view the return as a “lost cause,” writes Rosenthal, who notes that the Fish are still particularly high on minor-league strikeout king Harrison. Diaz, too, has flashed an intriguing power/plate-discipline combo in the upper minors, and appears poised to get his second-base shot in the upcoming campaign. Brinson, to be sure, suffered through a rookie campaign that almost could not have gone worse, but figures to get all the ship-righting opportunities he needs in the seasons to come.
  • Third baseman-turned-right fielder Brian Anderson will move back to the hot corner for 2019, tweets the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer. Anderson handled the shift with aplomb last season, posting 4 DRS and a +5 UZR on the way to an impressive 3.4 fWAR rookie campaign. Still, a young, well-rounded third baseman is a tougher find, and the Fish will surely like to test their young outfielders in the months to come. One-time incumbent Martin Prado may be on his last leg, and it seems the Marlins will again to look to the 35-year-old to fill his early-career super-utility role in 2019.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed yesterday at 1pm ET, and there has been a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track those settlements from the National League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Rounding out contract numbers for the St. Louis Cardinals, Dominic Leone will take home $1.26MM, Chasen Shreve will make $900K, and outfielder Marcell Ozuna will earn $12.25MM in his last season before free agency, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Ozuna has the most high-impact potential as he looks to rebound from a still-productive season in 2018 that saw his power output hindered at times by a balky shoulder. He still managed 23 home runs and a .280/.325/.433 slash line while playing just about every day outside of a 10-day DL stint late in August.
  • The Diamondbacks came to terms with a slew of players, per Feinsand (via Twitter), including Matt Andriese for $920K, Steven Souza Jr. for $4.125MM, shortstop Nick Ahmed for $3.6625MM, and potential closer Archie Bradley for $1.83MM.
  • The Rockies and starting pitcher Jon Gray have come to an agreement on a $2.935MM deal, per Feinsand (via Twitter). Gray had an up-and-down 2018 that is generally considered to be more promising than the optics of his 5.12 ERA make it seem.
  • The Pirates have come to terms on one-year deals with both of their arbitration eligible players, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Left fielder Corey Dickerson signs for $8.5MM, and reliever Keone Kela takes home $3.175MM. It’s a small arb class for the Pirates, whose list will grow next season as players like Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon, and Joe Musgrove, among others, reach their first season of eligibility.
  • The Dodgers signed a couple of their remaining arbitration-eligible players yesterday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Utility man Chris Taylor has a $3.5MM deal, while outfield Joc Pederson settled at $5MM.

Earlier Updates

Read more

Brewers Notes: Murphy, Moustakas, Kikuchi, Miley

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The Brewers have interest in signing Daniel Murphy to address their second base hole, while the team has also had talks about re-signing Mike Moustakas for third base, The Athletic’s Robert Murray reports (subscription required).  Signing Murphy would perhaps be the cleaner fit, as it would allow Travis Shaw to remain at his ideal third base position.  Murphy’s second base glove is below-average, though being paired up the middle with an outstanding fielder like shortstop Orlando Arcia would at least somewhat mitigate that issue, and Murphy’s bat is still potent.  Bringing Moustakas back to Milwaukee would require Shaw to return to second base, a position he filled last season after the Moose was brought into the fold.  Murray also notes that the Cardinals “also like” Moustakas, though it’s hard to see where he would fit in St. Louis now that Paul Goldschmidt’s presence means that Matt Carpenter will be playing third base.

More from the dairy state…

  • The Brewers have an “extensive history” of scouting left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, GM David Stearns told media (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) today at the Winter Meetings.  It isn’t clear, however, if the Brew Crew will be able to afford Kikuchi.  Stearns seemed to imply the team may be outbid, saying “generally those types of players command a large amount of money and can dictate where they want to go.”
  • Also from Stearns’ meeting with reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy), he noted that the team is open to the idea of re-signing Wade Miley.  The free agent lefty is testing his options in free agency, though Stearns is “keeping in touch” with Miley’s camp.
  • The front office has been “fielding incoming calls in certain areas of depth, and that’s normal. The key for us is we’re only going to move from areas of depth if we can get meaningful value,” Stearns said (all links to Haudricourt’s Twitter).  Haudricourt speculates that the GM is referring to first base, outfield, and maybe starting pitching, as Milwaukee has some level of surplus in all three areas.  In terms of spending, Stearns said the team won’t be forced to shift salary to make other moves, noting “I don’t see us putting ourselves in a position where we make a signing or acquisition that necessitates moving dollars elsewhere.”

NL Central Links: Votto, Reds, Nova, Schoop, Brewers

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By Joey Votto’s lofty standards, batting .284/.417/.419 counts as a down year, and the Reds first baseman tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that he is aiming for a return to form in 2019.  Votto plans to refocus on his hitting during his offseason preparations, while also putting a greater emphasis on conditioning.  “It’s not like I dogged it or anything, but there are levels to it,” Votto said.  “If I was 99 percent ready, to be at your very best you need to be at 99.9 percent. I would never have once come into Spring Training and a Major League season without feeling like I’m ready. There are really extremes. I do feel like that’s something I fell short on.”  While Votto still led the league in his OBP, his power dropoff was pronounced, as he posted the lowest full-season slugging percentage, isolated power, and home run numbers of his career.  Votto has been a remarkably productive and consistent player over his career, though since he did just turn 35 in September, so some manner of decline wouldn’t be a surprise going forward, assuming Votto doesn’t get things figured out this winter.

More from around the NL Central…

  • The Reds have some extra payroll to spend and they’ve been linked to several available pitchers this winter, though president of baseball operations Dick Williams threw a bit of cold water on the many rumors swirling around this team thus far in the offseason.  Speaking to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporters at the Redsfest fan event, Williams said that “the reports as a whole I’ve been surprised by how inaccurate they’ve been. They’ve taken us by surprise because they were so off base.  I’m not going to comment on which ones they were. I’ll just caution that in general that those statements on a guy we’re in on or not in on….I just don’t know where that comes from.”  Free agents and trade targets ranging from Dallas Keuchel, J.A. Happ, Patrick Corbin, Sonny Gray, and (before he was dealt to the Yankees) James Paxton have all reportedly drawn some interest from Cincinnati.
  • Pirates right-hander Ivan Nova has changed agents and is now being represented by the Wasserman agency, The Athletic’s Robert Murray tweets.  Nova is entering the last season of a three-year, $26MM free agent deal he signed in the 2016-17 offseason, and the righty has been solid over the first two-thirds of that contract, posting a 4.16 ERA, 6.3 K/9, and 3.45 K/BB rate over 348 innings for the Bucs.  Similar numbers in 2019 would put Nova in line for another multi-year deal, though he will be 33 years old by Opening Day 2020.
  • The Brewers’ ill-fated midseason acquisition of Jonathan Schoop was summed up by GM David Stearns “as a bad deal and that’s on me,” as Stearns said during a phone call with reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) on Friday.  Stearns surrendered some notable talent to the Orioles in order to land Schoop, who hit just .202/.246/.331 with four home runs over 134 PA as a Brewer, plus an 0-for-8 showing in the postseason.  Between this poor performance and Schoop’s projected $10.1MM salary in 2019 through the arbitration process, the Brewers chose to non-tender the second baseman on Friday.  Milwaukee did reach agreements with infielders Tyler Saladino and Hernan Perez, each of whom Stearns mentions as possible options for second base, though the team will no doubt explore external options via trades and free agency in the coming weeks.  Travis Shaw played some second base down the stretch once the Brewers acquired Mike Moustakas, and while Stearns noted that Shaw’s versatility “is a nice asset to have” in regards to the team’s offseason options, reinstalling Shaw as the everyday third baseman is the team’s “default scenario.”

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