First-baseman/designated hitter Luke Voit has pushed back the opt-out date on his minor league deal with the Brewers until Friday, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports. Voit told reporters he likes the fit with Milwaukee, and that the team likes him, but they are trying to maintain maximum 40-man roster flexibility going into the season.
Voit was one of the more high profile players to settle for minor league deals this winter, and it always appeared he had a decent chance to crack the Brewers’ active roster. That he’s agreed to extend the deadline by a week suggests that’s very much still in play, and it may come down to straight decision between Voit and Keston Hiura as to who makes the roster for Opening Day.
With left-handed hitters Rowdy Tellez and Jesse Winker set to occupy a lot of time at the first-base and DH spots, it makes sense for the team to have a right-hander to balance them out, but it may be a stretch for the team to carry both Voit and Hiura, given they’re both defensively-limited right-handed hitters. Of course, they could, in theory, carry both players, but it may leave the bench a little too limited in versatility.
Voit, 32, hit 22 home runs on the way to a .226/.308/.402 over 568 plate appearances for the Padres and Nationals in 2022. That’s a fair drop from the days of him being one of the better right-handed sluggers around. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Voit mashed 22 home runs in 56 games and finished ninth in AL MVP voting. That was part of a stretch from 2018-20 where Voit hit .278/.371/.541, largely for the Yankees. Things dropped off in 2021, as injuries restricted Voit to just 68 games that year, before the Yankees flipped him to the Padres ahead of the 2022 season.
While it’s unwise to glean too much from spring training numbers, Voit has hit .357/.379/.643 with two home runs so far, so is certainly doing everything he can to make an impression with the Brewers.
Volt won’t jolt
Not when they have a rowdy winker
I do not like the crew signing him. Same with Anderson and Winkler. We are relying too much on either ham and eggers who are also broken down. Time to load the truck and play the young guys. Something CC does not like to do! ,
I have a feeling Winker is going to bounce back nicely, offensively. His defense is another story.
Ya, I tend to agree. These guys won’t win you the division. But the majority of the young guys probably need a bit more time on the farm before they are ready to fully blossom. The future is bright though.
Except most of the young guys will ultimately prove to be ham and eggers too. It wasn’t that long ago that people were super excited for the young Keston Hiura, Luke Voit, Jesse Winker, and Brian Anderson as well. Just a couple of years in fact. The shelf life of prospects in MLB is exceptionally short.
I’m ok with Winker and Anderson signing. What I’m fed up with is guys jogging to first ( Voit, Urias, Tellez, Caratini and others) I’m ready for guys that hustle all time. I saw Frelick last year get 4 hits in one game last year because he beat all of them out by going hard. Start Mitchell, Turang and Frelick on the roster opening day then bring others up as the year goes on like Weimer, Robinson, Uribe and others. That will split their free agency years apart too. Don’t be afraid to send guys down if need be. Teach these guys it isn’t a bad thing but a learning experience. Learn from John Hart by trying to sign these guys to team friendly extensions. Get Chuck Caufield up as the assistant hitting coach too. That guy did an amazing job at Biloxi. Gotta keep guys like Bro( who looks more and more like he could be another Justin Taylor coming) and Miller. Time to bite the bullet on guys like Urias, Taylor, Perkins, Voit move on from them. I love Huira but I think it’s time to dfa him. If no one picks him up then send him to Biloxi ( Chuck Caufield) Tell him just to go back to how he approached hitting in college.
stubby66;
The Brewers are doing a rebuild on the fly.
They have the OF’s and C. Maybe the SS…maybe the 2B. One of the top 2 starting pitchers will be traded for quality prospects to help fill in the rest of the openings.
They should attach Yelich along with the top pitcher traded. No reason to pay him through 2028.
They won’t get much of anything for the pitcher if Yelich is attached.
They’ll get less, but getting him off the roster will be worth it.
It’s not just his salary – he’ll be taking playing time from younger player that can produce more for far less salary.
Moneyed teams such as the Mets, Padres, and Rangers will eat Yelich’s salary to get a Burnes – especially as Burnes is still under his 6 years of control.
You’re being rational and logical. Teams like that are not. Those teams see that as the cost of doing business.
Yeah, perhaps. Mets or Pads would be a possible exception. Cohen has stated he wants to build the system and is using the $$$ instead. But you are correct it wouldn’t be too much a stretch to see him want Burnes.
Perhaps Baty would be the headliner. Padres have already cleared the system out a few times. They might do again if they feel Burnes has to come
They should pick Voit. Regardless of what WAR says, fans come to watch offense, not defense.
regardless of what you (fans) think, baseball franchises are trying to win enough games to get into a playoff series. defense and offense are both necessary to get there, and they will make their decision accordingly.
You can’t always quantify defense. Say you have runners on 2nd and 3rd with two out. A batter hits a loping line drive headed for the right field corner. The outfielder flags it down and makes the catch without having to dive for it, both because se he’s speedy and because he knew where this particular hitter tended to hit the ball and played him accordingly.
To the average fan , it’s just the third out. But the outfielder’s defense saved two runs. Games are won on pitching and defense, i.e., preventing your opponent from scoring.
Have the Padres extended Mike Clevinger yet?
Voit will find his way to be on a mlb roster in 2023…
Volt age may hinder him
VOIT Fan Favorite In San Diego. Hit the ball great when he focused on hitting to Centerfield.
I’m going to call it, San Diego is going to sweep in at the trade deadline and snatch up Corbin Burnes.
I’d keep him over Hiura. Then again, I would’ve nontendered Hiura in the first place.
Voit 25% KO rate this spring. Hiura 44%. Keston has looked lost so far this spring.
The number that should matter. Putting the ball in play. At some point Hiura’s age will slow his swing down and we’ll be watching him whiff 75% of the time. Should be gone by end of the week.
Would rather have Luke Voit over Darin Ruf on the Mets…
The Voit is adroit!
Voit is adroit
They non tendered Keston hoping he would have a breakout spring, they are probably trying to trade him so as to not let him go empty handed. I think he will be waved in hopes to resign him.
If its strictly a competition between Voit and Hiura i would choose Voit. The defense at 1B is probably terrible with either one but Voit has power and Hiura has struggled tremendously to just make contact. Hiura might still have a decent future in Baseball but it’s not in Milwaukee
Volt age is against him.
Wish he was battling Wilson for a final roster spot
With a strikeout rate nearing 50% I don’t see any club claiming Hiura is waived with his salary.