Everyone gets bad grades once in a while and often times deservedly so, but when grades are handed out with a grader’s bias and lack of research, then it’s time to grab the red pen and make some necessary corrections.
On Thursday, MLB insider and Today’s Knuckleball writer Jon Heyman graded each MLB team according to their trade deadline performance. Despite the Milwaukee Brewers moving to the No. 1 position in the MLB’s farm system rankings, jumping nearly a third of the league and becoming tied for most Top 100 Prospects with eight, Heyman ranked the Brewers at No. 27 and gave them a D grade with a wry twist on the team’s mid-season transactions.
Heyman’s justification for this grade initially centered around Jonathan Lucroy being “bizarrely concerned” about his 2017 playing time if he joined the Cleveland Indians.
For anyone who is an astute observer of baseball, they are likely keenly aware of the varying personalities that compose the sport as a whole. Following Lucroy for any amount of time, it’s not difficult to see that he is a passionate student of the game, frequently and publicly commenting on his aim of constant improvement and playing with the collected composure held in reverence by traditionalists.
Of course, from a historical perspective, this may seem disingenuous and cliche, as many players are trained to spout the type of rhetoric taught by Crash Davis in Bull Durham‘s bus scene. That is, at least until you see Lucroy run out every fly ball, his overall work ethic, his cool head on and off the field, or remember his work with Fischer House Wisconsin, the Honor Flight, and Catch a Star, or even that he won a Bob Feller Act of Valor Award in 2015.
Even after the mixed reception of his response to off-season trade talks swelled to a head, he stepped forward to apologize for any misconceptions. He then proceeded to center around the fun of playing baseball and the amazing group of people that were surrounding him professionally.
All of this seems to amount to one thing: that Lucroy loves the game of baseball and plays it with respect. Knowing all that, there should be no question that a man who loves the game wants to play as often as he can, and with the talent he possesses, why shouldn’t he?
Heyman also fails to mention that the playing time concern was also in accordance with Lucroy’s request for additional financial compensation, which was denied twice by Cleveland while a deal was on the table. Considering he is grossly underpaid at his position for the work he does both behind and at the plate, it’s almost humorous that anyone would question his drive to secure a suitable paycheck, especially with the possibly of being denied playing time on top of it.
If that wasn’t enough, Heyman’s phrasing sounds like that of a sour Indians fan deprived of talent for any reason other than the organization’s stingy compensation.
He continues his analysis by criticizing the Brewers’ lack of ability in acquiring big name slugging prospect Joey Gallo, who, even with monster power – seven home runs in 42 games — hasn’t been able to overcome his shortcomings in the majors thus far, slashing .187/.281/.398 with 66 strikeouts in 123 at-bats. In a season and a half, the 22-year-old hasn’t seemed to convince the organization that he’s ready to stay playing at the major league level. Heyman does hedge his bet however, claiming that unless Gallo is the player to be named later — which the Brewers are still due — the Rangers “didn’t give nearly enough for Lucroy.”
Of course, the New York Yankees, who were rated at No. 9 on his list, also failed to acquire Gallo in their deal, but Heyman fails to mention that in their respective section.
He continues on by adding that the Brewers “wound up with two prospects with question marks,” naming five-tool outfielder Lewis Brinson and right-hander Luis Ortiz, a point that was established in the Rangers’ review by a rival GM who also called them “two solid prospects with serious risk.”
Only two weeks prior, Heyman discussed the possibility of the Rangers moving Brinson in a trade, calling him a “talented center field prospect, who had been seen as untouchable.”
Funny how quickly that narrative changes.
He attempts to make a case that Brinson “was actually only hitting .237” for the Rangers’ Double-A team, which isn’t inaccurate, but grossly overlooks his career slash line of .276/.344/.488 and that he’s on a pace that would put his numbers at around 23 home runs, nearly 90 runs batted in and 27 stolen bases –without accounting for major league adjustment – in a 162-game season.
Heyman ends his analysis pulling quotes from rival GMs, once again wondering why the Brewers couldn’t manage to get Gallo, and that they “couldn’t get the market to line up with their players.”
This must have been a hard quote to pull, considering that most GMs give glowing reviews of their rivals publicly, like those who magically praised the the Rangers and Yankees to agree with Heyman’s perspective.
The only mention of the Will Smith trade occurs under the No. 2 team, who are, you guessed it, the San Francisco Giants, who apparently didn’t give up a lot for a left-handed reliever just coming off the DL, with noticeably worse numbers across the board than just about every other season he’s pitched.
In fact, they nailed it because, according to Heyman, they are “gosh-darned geniuses,” for giving up their No. 1 prospect, right-hander Phil Bickford, because “he’s fallen,” as one rival GM said.
Apparently a small dip in velocity negates being a top prospect.
Then logically, catcher Andrew Susac, the other half of the Brewers’ end of the deal, must be terrible too right?
Despite showing a dip in numbers last year at the major-league level – .218/.297/.368, 3 HR, 14 RBI in 52 games in 2015 compared to .273/.326/.466, 3 HR, 19 RBI in 35 games in 2014 – Susac is batting .272/.341/.446 with eight home runs and 38 RBI in just 62 games in the minor in 2016 and now stands as a major-league ready catcher with the Brewers Triple-A affiliate in Colorado Springs.
So before you put any trust in Heyman’s big-market-leaning analysis – with seven of the top 10 MLB payrolls represented in the top ten rankings – take a look at the data yourself. Opinions are still opinions, but good ones are well-founded.
Jonathan Powell is the Brewers Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. Follow me on Twitter @JP_OPSN.
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