Brewers expecting moves in meetings
If not for the pandemic – how many times have people used that caveat in 2020? – Major League Baseball’s annual winter meetings were set to begin Monday at the Omni Hotel in Dallas.
Instead – and how many times have we also said this? – they will be held virtually this year.
The winter meetings ceased being a wild, wheeling-and-dealing spectacle years ago when free agency took priority in offseason personnel maneuvering.
Still, teams utilized them to set up deals with agents or other clubs with the advantage of having decision makers gathered under one roof.
As an example, during the four days the Milwaukee Brewers’ brain trust operated at the winter meetings last December in San Diego, they reached agreement with free-agent pitchers Josh Lindblom (three-year deal) and Brett Anderson (one year).
Truth be told, representatives of clubs spent much of their time at the meetings talking or texting with each other on cell phones from their hotel rooms. You can do that just as easily from home, which will be the case by necessity this year.
Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns, for one, expects teams to make personnel moves over the next week, primarily because it’s the time of year to focus on roster building, pandemic or not.
“I think it will be more active than we’ve seen over the last month and a half, because the last month and a half around the industry has been pretty quiet from a transaction perspective,” Stearns said.
don't know that you're necessarily going to see the same volume (of activity) as you do in a normal year when you have in-person winter meetings, but we are getting to the time in the calendar where the conversations accelerate and get more specific. I do think conversations will pick up.”
The Brewers did considerable roster maneuvering Wednesday, the deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players. They reached one-year deals with catchers Omar Narváez and Manny Piña, shortstop Orlando Arcia and first baseman/designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach, and traded reliever Corey Knebel to Los Angeles rather than committing another $5 million or so to him in 2021.
The Brewers non-tendered outfielder Ben Gamel, reliever Alex Claudio and utility player Jace Peterson, leaving only right-hander Brandon Woodruff and closer Josh Hader to go forward with the arbitration process. The moves left the Brewers with five openings on their 40man roster, though one reportedly has
been committed to free-agent catcher Luke Maile.
When Maile is added, it will give the Brewers six catchers on their 40-man roster, with Narváez, Piña, Jacob Nottingham, David Freitas and prospect Mario Feliciano, added this winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft coming Thursday. Maile, Narváez and Feliciano have minor-league options remaining but it is unlikely the Brewers will open spring training with that many catchers on their roster.
“It gives us a lot of options,” Stearns said. “We've got a lot of catchers, many of them with experience at the majorleague level. We think all of them have the ability to contribute at the majorleague level. It will give us time over the coming months to sort through all of that.”
The Brewers already have committed $54.3 million to 10 players for 2021 and don't have a ton of financial leeway after receiving no gate revenue during the pandemic-shortened '20 season. But they have obvious holes at third base and first base, which were huge offensive voids on a team that struggled mightily to score runs last season.
The Brewers opened the '20 season with a platoon of left-handed hitting Eric
Sogard and right-handed hitting Jedd Gyorko at third base but Sogard stopped hitting and eventually was benched. Gyorko was shifted to first base after struggling veteran Justin Smoak was released after one month and held his own offensively (.838 OPS, nine homers, 17 RBI) but the club did not pick up his $4.5 million for 2021 (they declined the same option on Sogard).
Young newcomer Luis Urías was given a chance to show he could play third base, making 20 starts, but didn't hit (.602 OPS) and doesn't have the power (no homers in 120 plate appearances) you'd like to see at that position. The Brewers must decide the best way to use both Arcia and Urías, who originally were expected to battle for the shortstop position before injuries and illness set back the latter.
The Brewers could try to fill those the infield corners by shopping Hader for a blockbuster trade. Otherwise, they'll sort through a variety of free-agent options while exploring other deals with interested parties. With 59 non-tendered players thrust into the market, there are 230 or so free agents looking for work.
Big-ticket options on the market probably will be beyond the Brewers' financial reach, but other clubs are in sim“I
ilar positions after the pandemic-shortened season and those who wait likely will see prices drop as spring camps near.
The Brewers have no position-player prospects ready to come up and contribute next season, so that avenue remains closed. With Christian Yelich expected to bounce back from his offensive woes during COVID-19 ball and a solid core of pitchers, both starters and relievers, Stearns believes he can field another contender if he plays his limited cards right this winter.
Beyond the Rule 5 draft, MLB will conduct other business as scheduled this week with the announcements of the Roberto Clemente Award on Monday, the Hank Aaron Award winners in both leagues on Tuesday and the all-MLB team on Wednesday. Yelich and Hader were named to the initial squad in 2019.
Australia assignments: The Brewers took advantage of their new association with the Australian Baseball league and former catcher Dave Nilsson to assign RHP Matt Hardy, RHP Brandon Ramey, C Nick Kahle, RHP Michele Vassalotti and RHP Paxton Schultz to the Brisbane Bandits for winter ball action. C Alex Hall was assigned to the Perth Heat of that league.