So now let's take a bit of a look at the Denver Brewers current infield and talk a bit about what the future might look like, or what the big questions for the future are.
First base:
Brett Taranto has been the Brewers starting first baseman since 1976, having taken over there for long-time Brewer
Bobby Erbakan, who won six Gold Gloves at the position prior to himself moving over to second base to give way to
Taranto at first. Although
Taranto isn't quite the defender
Erbakan was, he is quite good and himself has won one Gold Glove award (1977). But more importantly, he has basically raked in his six plus (came to the team in the middle of the 1975 season) years with Denver, putting up a slash line of .339/.381/.501 with a WAR of 31.8, earning two MGL batting titles (1977-1978), and winning the 1978 MGL MVP award. Although his past 2 seasons were a bit of a step back from that MVP campaign (3.5 and 3.2 WAR respectively), he is on pace to once again win the batting title, contend for the MVP, and sits at 6.1 WAR as we head into the final stretch of the regular season.
So,
Taranto is solidly entrenched at first base, right? Well, probably. That will likely be up to him. Having reached the final year of arbitration eligibility, the team and
Taranto came to agreement on a one year deal for 1982 that will earn him $985,000, which at the moment would make him the highest paid player in the game, and rumor has it that his initial ask would have made him the first million dollar man in WPK history (in terms of a single season salary.) Although he is turning 31 in the offseason, he remains a very durable player (his lone IL time being due to a sprained elbow last season, which sidelined him for 3 weeks). The feeling is that the club would love to keep him, but in addition to his great work ethic (Sparkplug) he is reportedly a player who insists on being paid commensurate with his production (high greed) and it remains to be seen whether he and the team can settle on a mutually agreeable extension before he becomes a free agent at the end of next season.
For this season his primary backup (he doesn't need many breathers) is two-way player
Ben Flynn, who is the team captain, a capable enough defender (his 6'4" frame helps), and who has perhaps the best pure power bat on the club.
Flynn has hit just .275/.336/.542 but has 9 home runs in just 146 plate appearances.
Ben is from nearby Longmont, Colorado, is popular with the Denver fans, is considered an Iron Man, and is signed through 1984, at a pretty reasonable rate (then again, he's not a very good relief pitcher.)
Second base:
As mentioned above, after serving at the Brewers primary first baseman for 8 seasons,
Bobby Erbakan then moved over to second base, where he has continued to flash the leather for 5+ years, though he has not added to his Gold Glove total of 6 since making the move.
Bobby is the lone original Brewer remaining (the only player on the team who was chosen in the inaugural WPK draft- well, okay, not really, but the only one who has remained on the team since that time: spoiler alert, an old friend returned for a last go-round with the club this season). He is extremely popular, both locally and nationally, is a 4-time All-Star, 2-time Silver Slugger award winner, was the MVP of the 1979 Kinsella Classic Series (the WPK's version of the World Series, for the uninitiated), and has earned 4 championship rings with the lone club of his big league career. He's almost surely not a future Hall of Famer, but at age 34 he has had a distinguished WPK career and is the career leader for the Brewers in WAR (54.8), games played (1745), at-bats (6628), runs scored (940), hits (1951), doubles (309), home runs (189), RBI (998), and hit by pitch (106, this is a specialty for
Bobby and might have contributed to his propensity for injury (fragile).
But at this stage of his career
Bobby is clearly in the decline phase and there are also some questions about his commitment to maintaining his skills as he ages (low work ethic). He still fields very well (7.1 ZR, 4th best in MGL) and he hasn't been a disaster at the plate (.273/.345/.424, 2.5 WAR in 340 PA's) but he continues to have a creaky back which sidelined him for a bit over a month in the middle of the season and there is clearly more career in his rear view mirror than still ahead of him. He is signed through the 1985 season (though the team also has a buy-out option for that last season.)
There is no clear cut successor for
Bobby at second. There was a time when
Jose Figueroa, the Brewers first round draft pick in 1973, looked was a possible future starter at either second or third base. But although
Figueroa has great makeup and is a fine contact hitter, his defense is slightly above average at best, and trending towards being poor, he rarely takes a walk, he has no power, and this season, in 251 PA's and with a slash line of .291/.327/.330 he has zero WAR. He is just entering his arbitration years at the end of this season, but there are serious doubts that he will remain with the club much longer and he might be on the move in the offseason.
Another possibility is
Craig Hoover, who the team obtained through a trade with Baltimore mid-season.
Hoover is also a former 1st round draft pick, recently turned 26, and is a spectacular fielder at both second and third. (He's even a decent backup at shortstop.) But can he hit? That remains to be seen. His big league slash line thus far is .218/.281/.313 with 1.5 WAR in what adds up to about one full season. His .251/.308/.347 since joining the Brewers is a bit better and he has been hot of late, but he's going to have to show he has a big league bat soon or his ceiling is as a utility infielder. He is under team control through 1987 and will only be making league minimum for the next two seasons, so the Brewers have some time to let him prove himself more.
The Brewers also currently have likely future Hall of Famer, veteran captain, and the leading base stealer in WPK history-
Josh Jenkins- on the roster after he found himself unwanted on the free agency list and was signed to a minor league contract by Denver in mid-July. But surely
Jenkins won't be with the club again in 1982 at age 38 he might be close to announcing his retirement.
Third base:
Jake DiCesare is looking more and more like a shooting star.
DiCesare joined the Brewers organization as a minor league acquisition through trade with Philadelphia in 1975 and developed into a much better player than expected. In spite of missing a lot of playing time with injuries (and injuries upon injuries)
DiCesare put up 4.1 WAR in 1979 and followed that up with a 5.1 WAR 1980 season (.363/.398/.497 in 487 PA). He is a very good fielder and even though he lacks foot speed he is very good on the base paths. And he has proven to be a much better hitter than expected. But having once again lost significant time to injury this season, the indications are that like a shooting star his time lighting up the WPK sky will be brief. He was a late bloomer and will turn 30 in the offseason. His arbitration eligibility years kick in at the end of this season and there is no word yet on whether the team will even try to sign him to an extension.
Craig Hoover might take over at third, pending proving he has even an adequate big league bat. If
Figueroa sticks around he can at least help fill any gap. Most interesting perhaps is
Russell Fleming, the Brewers second round draft pick in 1978, but with his great positional flexibility (he might actually be best as a right fielder, but as mentioned earlier, that job is very much taken),
Fleming profiles best as a super sub. He is hard working and durable, he has a plus contact bat profile and decent raw speed, but little power, not much OBP potential, and is a poor base stealer and base runner. He has hit .286/.314/.411 in a few stints with the big league club this season (175 PA) and has at times impressed. But he doesn't look like a future starter.
Shortstop:
Rich White has been the starter at short for the Brewers since joining the club through a trade with El Paso mid-season 1975. He has been an excellent defensive shortstop and won 2 Gold Glove awards. On the other hand, he has only 2 full seasons in his big league career with an OPS+ over 100, and then just barely. Even at age 32 he remains speedy and a very fine defender (by scouting reports anyway, his ZR this season is -1.2) and he is probably the most popular player among Denver fans, known to spend hours after games signing autographs. But he is injury prone, getting old, and is entering the final year of his contract (he was signed earlier this season to a $495K extension for 1982), and his 0.8 WAR in 281 PA this season seems like a true reflection of his decline phase. He'll be around for one more season but is unlikely to remain a Brewer beyond that.
Is
Shawn York his replacement? Maybe. The 24-year old
York is a gifted fielder (15.7 ZR this season, second best in the WPK at his position, though with the uber-talented Willie Romero and his 49.2 ZR in the the same league,
York won't get a Gold Glove this year or probably anytime soon) who has hit .238/.276/.297 in 345 PA this season. He is probably the speediest player on the team with the best stolen base potential and base running savvy, but he doesn't get on base enough to fully utilize these elite tools. His defense and legs might make him the starter at short for the Brewers going forward, but there is little reason to think that he will ever develop into anything other than a mediocre hitter at best. As a shortstop, maybe that is enough.
In summation:
With three of their four infield starters being very injury prone (
Taranto being the exception) and all of them now either in their 30's, or in the case of
DiCesare turning 30 before next season, the infield situation for the Brewers is in flux and there are many question marks. If the Brewers are going to trade away from their greatest strength (starting pitching prospects) this is likely the area they will need to address.