After a second half collapse during the 2014 season, the Milwaukee Brewers are looking to rebound and make the playoffs in 2015. They suffered a setback in that regard when they received some bad news about their catcher, but they have their eyes on a top international prospect.
Brewers' catcher Jonathan Lucroy had a career season in 2014 during which he hit .301/.373/.465/.837 with 13 home runs and 69 RBIs. He earned his first All-Star honors and finished fourth in the NL MVP voting. Unfortunately, the team announced on Wednesday that the 28-year-old is expected to miss 4-6 weeks because of a hamstring strain, putting his status for Opening Day in doubt.
According to the team, Lucroy's injury was diagnosed on Monday by Dr. William Raasch and confirmed on Tuesday by Dr. Lee Kaplan. The catcher told ESPN in a phone interview that he was diagnosed with a partially torn tendon and that the injury started bothering him when running the bases during a game in August. The team is unsure how Lucroy aggravated the injury, especially since he underwent an examination on January 26 and was said to be fine.
This is poor timing for both the Brewers and Lucroy since the team's pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training next week.
However, the Brewers have some potentially promising news. Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada held a private workout for the team in late January where pro scouting director Zack Minasian, amateur scouting director Doug Reynolds, special assistant Craig Counsell, senior director of baseball operations Tom Flanagan, pro scout Cory Melvin and outfield instructor John Shelby were present. The 19-year-old is expected to land a signing bonus from anywhere between $30 million and $50 million.
Moncada, a switch-hitting middle infielder, is also garnering interest from a number of other clubs, such as the Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Padres, Giants, Rangers, Rays and Tigers, so the market is crowded and expected to be competitive.
"You see the other teams that are involved," said Brewers' general manager Doug Melvin, via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. "Again, when you're in negotiations, you don't want to tip your hand."
When asked whether the team plans to submit an offer to Moncada's agent, Melvin responded, "I don't want to say, because we haven't had that kind of discussion with ownership yet."
This provides at least some promise because Melvin isn't revealing any insight regarding the team's involvement. The big market teams do have an advantage because they can offer the youngster more money, but the Brewers have had troubles with their farm system in recent years and could use a game-breaking prospect such as Moncada to get things moving. ESPN Insider Keith Law ranked Milwaukee's farm system 28th in the league, and that's especially bad for a low-payroll team.
Perhaps the team's ownership gives the green light for a Moncada deal, especially after they missed out on Jose Abreu last offseason.
