4 Takeaways from Brewers Kolten Wong trade with Mariners
By Paul Bretl
Although the Milwaukee Brewers picked up Kolten Wong’s option for 2023, rumors had been swirling since then about a potential trade taking place. According to Matt Arnold, a number of teams were interested, but the Brewers came to an agreement with Seattle.
For Wong, the Brewers will be getting outfielder Jesse Winker and utility player Abraham Toro. In addition to sending Wong to the Mariners, the Crew is also sending $1.75 million to help balance the financials.
Wong had been one of Milwaukee’s better bats last season, hitting .251 at the plate and posting a .770 OPS. However, as a two-time Gold Glove player, Wong’s defense took a sharp decline last season.
Now that the dust has settled a bit in regard to this move, let’s take a look at four takeaways from this Brewers-Mariners trade.
Trading Wong wasn’t another salary dump by the Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers already traded away Hunter Renfroe, who was due about $11 million in 2023. The Crew also picked up Kolten Wong’s option for next season, which was valued at $10 million. On the surface, this may look like another salary dump by payroll-conscious Brewers, but that simply isn’t the case.
Winker, like Wong, is in the final year of his contract and is due $8.25 million. Also, part of the trade was Milwaukee sending $1.75 million to Seattle. So in terms of money spent by Milwaukee in 2023, it was a wash.
Jesse Winker loves playing in Milwaukee
Brewers fans are likely quite familiar with Winker, who spent his first five big league seasons with Cincinnati before making his way to Seattle in 2022. So he has a decent amount of experience playing at what is now American Family Field, and Winker has fared very well.
In 93 career at-bats, Winker is slashing .344/.440/.591, totaling a 1.032 OPS. He also has 14 home runs, five triples, and an OPS+ well above the league average at 145.
Decisions, decisions
With the addition of Winker and the loss of Wong, the Milwaukee Brewers have some decisions to make in the field. When it comes to Winker, he has played primarily left field over the last two seasons, but of course, that is where Christian Yelich plays. Do the Brewers slide Winker over to right field? Does he stay in left with Yelich taking more DH at-bats? Or is it Winker who is the primary DH with all of the young talent the Brewers have in the outfield?
With Wong now gone, there is an opening at second base. One option the Brewers have is Brice Turang taking over that position. Another could be moving Luis Urias over and then trying to acquire a third baseman this offseason.
As expected, Matt Arnold wasn’t going to specifically answer these questions at this time. There is too much offseason ahead to commit to anything at this moment.
Winker and Toro’s 2022 seasons in review
Winker: It was a down year for Winker, who dealt with several injuries. That, coupled with the park he was playing in, are two factors that Arnold attributed to his 2022 season. With Seattle, Winker hit .219 and posted a .688 OPS, 14 home runs, along with his hard-hit rate dropping significantly. However, he did maintain a relatively low strikeout rate, and he saw his walk rate increase. During Winker’s final two seasons with the Reds, he recorded a .292 average, with a .945 OPS and 36 home runs.
Toro: Since making his big league debut in 2019, Toro has bounced back and forth between the big leagues and the minors. While he’s found success at the plate in Triple-A, it hasn’t carried over to the big leagues. Last season in 324 at-bats, Toro slashed .185/.239/.324. Defensively he has the ability to play just about anywhere in the infield, minus shortstop, along with some outfield if needed.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and Fangraphs