Milwaukee Brewers: 3 Free Agent Third Baseman Targets
By Kenny Jilek
Medium Money Option: Tommy La Stella
After spending the first five years of his career as a solid bench bat, he finally got the opportunity to be an everyday starter in 2019 with the Los Angeles Angels and made the All-Star team, although an injury kept him out for a good portion of the season. He built on that in 2020, having another stellar season with the Angels and then the A’s.
If you’re a fan of the Moneyball philosophy that you should get a guy because “he gets on base,” then Tommy La Stella is your guy. His career on-base percentage is .349, and he has an above-average walk rate of 9.4 percent. He also strikes out even less than Harrison, only 10.5 percent of the time, just half of the league average, and in 2020 he was in the top 1 percent in strikeout percentage. He’s also very consistent and not as prone to outlier down seasons as most of the Brewers’ lineup had in 2020.
He doesn’t have quite the versatility that Harrison does as has never played outfield in the major leagues, but he’s played plenty of innings at both second and third base, while also playing 88 innings of first base, and he too has pitched in the MLB. He gave up a home run and a couple of singles in 1 1/3 innings of work against the Cardinals, not too shabby for an infielder. Overall, he’s a below-average defender, but at third base, he’s been good enough to not stick out as a liability.
La Stella’s bat definitely makes up for his fielding and more. Even though he doesn’t often hit the ball hard, he’s a steady on-base option and would give the Milwaukee Brewers a great leadoff option or middle of the order hitter if Lorenzo Cain comes back and returns to form. He’s not a flashy guy. He doesn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark, steal bases, or make ridiculous defensive plays, but he’s the steady bat that this team was starved of in 2020, and he could come at a reasonable price because of the fact that he’s nothing special.