Stearns has covered all his bases
ATLANTA – The word “redundancy” is often used with negative connotations.
It can mean something is unnecessary or superfluous. Having an excess. Heck, in the true British interpretation of the word, it means you’ve been canned from your job.
In baseball, however, redundancy can be a good thing. It means you have all your bases covered, so to speak, and then some. Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns used that word more than once after acquiring versatile infielder/outfielder Eduardo Escobar in a trade Wednesday with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“We’ve added a player who gives us a very high level of redundancy around the diamond,” Stearns said.
Why is redundancy important at this time of year for baseball clubs? Because, as of 3 p.m. Friday, there could be no more trades of major-league players for the remainder of the season.
Prior to 2019, teams were allowed to trade players between the end of July and the end of August and still have them eligible for the postseason, if they cleared waivers first. Veterans with big contracts often cleared waivers because many teams didn’t want to add those salaries to their payrolls.
Remember Aug. 31, 2018, when Stearns made the last-minute additions of reliever Xavier Cedeno, starter Gio Gonzalez and outfielder Curtis Granderson, adding them to his late-July acquisitions of infielders Mike Moustakas and Jonathan Schoop, and reliever Joakim Soria? That team came within a game of advancing to the World Series.
Barring a waiver claim or minorleague deal of some consequence, what Stearns had on hand as of late Friday afternoon is what he’ll use to try to go deep into October baseball. That’s why he coveted Escobar, a switch-hitting, versatile veteran who can cover him at positions all over the diamond.
“We’re trying to prepare for the unexpected,” Stearns said. “We don’t have the luxury anymore of plugging holes in August, so redundancy everywhere is really important, especially for a team that has aspirations of making the playoffs and hopefully going deep into the playoffs.
“Look, we enjoyed the August trade period. It’s a place where we found the ability to make moves that helped our club. I also understand from an industry perspective having deadlines that mean something, and from our fans’ perspective, having deadlines that mean something is important. I understand the change.
“I’m of the opinion, and I think a lot of people who are of the opinion that we should consider moving this (trade deadline) to mid-August. I’m hopeful that at some point we’ll get there but until then, we have to be prepared to operate with the team that we have as of the end of the day on the 30th.”
One place a team seldom has too much redundancy is the bullpen and Stearns made two moves to bolster that area Friday, acquiring left-hander Daniel Norris and right-hander John Curtiss , veterans who have been around the block a few times. The need for another lefty became apparent when Hoby Milner and Angel Perdomo were erratic when given the chance, and even prospect Aaron Ashby had a disastrous debut as an “opener.”
With all the deserved kudos the starting rotation has received, particularly the Big 3 of Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta, the bullpen has been an area of strength as well for the Brewers. After thinning the relief corps a bit in trades to satisfy other needs, Stearns now has restocked that pantry.
Not that the Brewers have zero decisions to make going forward, in regard to both playing time and roster composition. First comes how best to use Escobar, because he wasn’t acquired to sit on the bench. He made all starts in the field this season with the Diamondbacks at either third base (61 starts) or second base (31).
The Brewers never have been afraid to think outside the box. Remember Moustakas playing second base? Stearns and manager Craig Counsell have talked about playing Escobar at first base, particularly against lefthanded pitching. Lefty-hitting Rowdy Tellez has been swinging a hot bat and does OK against southpaws, so we’ll see what happens there.
Never mind that in his long career Escobar has never played an inning of first base, either in the minors or majors. There’s not a lot of time left in the season to give a tutorial at the position, but Counsell said they will give it a try despite the risks involved of doing so in the middle of a playoff race.
“We’ll have to think about that,” he said. “But I think first base against lefthanded pitching is something we thought about, for sure. And that’s one of the things that Eduardo has been really good at throughout his career, how he hits left-handed pitching.
“Ultimately, he’s just gotta play there. And if he plays there, I think he’ll get comfortable there. He’s a guy who has played shortstop in the major leagues,
Stearns so he’s a good infielder. It’s just (that) first base is a different position. It’s a very different position, and things happen there that don’t happen at the other infield positions, so getting used to it is going to take time.
“We’re just going to have to let him experience it and learn kind of on the fly. Learn as much as you can as we go. The practice part of it can happen but he’s going to learn it the most in games.”
When healthy this year, Gold Glover Kolten Wong, a left-handed hitter, has been the Brewers’ everyday second baseman and a catalyst in the leadoff spot. Other than giving Escobar an occasional start there against a tough lefthanded pitcher, it’s difficult to imagine him playing a ton of second base.
Since the Brewers acquired shortstop Willy Adames from Tampa Bay on May 21, a move that Counsell recently said “changed our team,” Luis Urías has seen the majority of the action at third base, a switch made easier when Travis Shaw dislocated his left shoulder in early June.
The Brewers have been pleased for the most part with the production of Urías, particularly the developing pop he has shown with 13 homers and 47 RBI. He is among the club leaders in many offensive categories but has slipped in July (.690 OPS) after a strong June (.875 OPS), and his playing time certainly will diminish greatly with Escobar on board.
It will be interesting to see what Stearns and Co. do when Shaw and first baseman Daniel Vogelbach are deemed healthy and ready to return to the majors. Both are on rehab assignments at Triple-A Nashville, so there is some time to figure it out but decisions will have to be made at some point.
Tellez has a minor-league option, so the Brewers could ignore his recent production and send him down to make room for Vogelbach. There’s only so much redundancy they have room for there. But it’s difficult to imagine where Shaw would fit back in, both in terms of roster space and playing time, with Escobar and Urías on the team.
“We’ve got a number of different options,” Stearns said. “We’re trying to prepare for the unexpected. We’re going to need all these guys.
“Sometimes, it’s going to feel like there’s a playing time crunch but that will take care of itself pretty quickly, so we’re going to need every single one of these guys to help us get to where we want to go.”
If it all sounds redundant, that’s because it was meant to be that way.