[BirdWatcher]

Now that the Brewers have traded away long-time second baseman Tanner Yurek and veteran third baseman Jamison Bash, one of the big remaining questions this season is whether they will trade away veteran right fielder Antonio Puente prior to the trading deadline (or in the upcoming off-season.)

Puente was one of the team's first stars and was the first player signed to a long-term contract (which doesn't expire until the end of the 1974 season.) He is the career franchise leader in home runs (175), RBI (570), walks (524), slugging percentage (.439), and WAR (33.4), second in runs scored (478), and hits (802). On the other hand, he also is the career leader in strikeouts (815.)

Puente has that valuable combination of speed and power and also is a very gifted outfielder. In fact, now that he has settled full-time in right field (he was a left fielder early in his career and the past few years has seen quite a bit of time in center field as well as both corners), his defensive numbers this year should make him a strong candidate to win his first Gold Glove award. In his career he has been very good at drawing walks but is also very prone to striking out. But his contact skills, which were never great, have diminished much over the years. He has a career batting average of .237 and is struggling to stay above .220 this season. He is trending in the wrong direction in terms of walk percentage and strikeout percentage. And while he remains the team's most likely power threat, he is only on pace to hit 15 HR's this season. His OPS is only 7th among Brewers batters this season and his OBP is a dismal .318. Largely due to his excellent defense and his power hitting he is still third on the team among position players in WAR (behind Bobby Erbakan and Chad Brown.)

Puente's salary of 140K per season for the remainder of the term isn't unreasonable. But with so many other outfield options on the teams it is likely that the Brewers could scrape together performance near his for much less money.
Veteran superstar Ryan Rodgers is now recovered from his earlier (bar arm wrestling) injury and is currently in the midst of a rehab assignment at AAA Chester. When he returns it is likely that Paul Mackins will be sent back down to Chester. Mackins has been very solid for the Brewers off the bench with great left-field defense, top of the line speed and base-stealing ability, and a respectable slash line of .291/.310/.345. All at the league minimum salary ($19,840) of course.
Although his batting average has dipped quite a bit lately, rookie Joe McPhillips is clearly the future center fielder and shows signs of becoming a star in the league. His slash line of .223/.342/.404 still gives him one of the better OPS on the team (much better than Puente's), he has Gold Glove caliber defensive skills and is a great on the base paths.
And Andrew Kennedy, signed to a 6-year extension earlier this season, is probably the team's best pure hitter not named Ryan Rodgers. Kennedy doesn't have great power, but will hit a high number of doubles, spraying line drives around the field at will and rarely striking out, and is a solid defender in the outfield corners and at first base where can provide good coverage when Erbakan needs a breather.
That leaves Pat Rondeau, a premium defender at all 3 outfield positions, a speed demon on the bases, and a good little hitter (.296/.313/.356). Rondeau has one year of arbitration eligibility left and it is estimated that he could be re-signed for 1973 at a cost of about $95 K.
And this is not even to mention the several good young outfielders still waiting in the wings in the minors, at least one of whom (Josh Schaeffer) is thought to be a potential above average big league starter in right field.

So while it is not the worst dilemma to have, it is a dilemma nevertheless. What to do about Antonio Puente?