The Milwaukee Brewers’ 2024 outfield is crowded, with one established and highly paid superstar and a plethora of excellent young players. But has The Athletic disclosed their plan to break the logjam without selling promising prospects?
According to Ken Rosenthal, Sal Frelick worked out in the infield with former Boston Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia this offseason, which the Brewers confirmed with a tweet showing Frelick fielding a bunt at third base. While Brewers fans are accustomed with Frelick patrolling the outfield grass at American Family Field, he also played infield for North Shore in the Futures Collegiate League in 2018 and 2020.
Despite Gary Sanchez’s unusual deal, outfield crowding remains a concern. Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, and either Garrett Mitchell or Joey Wiemer might start in the outfield. Assume Wiemer’s altered swing improves his offensive production, and Mitchell can remain healthy. In that event, this bunch becomes formidable, even without Frelick, who now appears to be getting at least some playing time in the infield.
Moving Frelick to second and third gives the Crew an option that provides a massive boost at the former position (his OPS+ of 91 in 2023 was almost 50% higher than that of Brice Turang, the team’s primary starter last year) and allows them to hold roughly even at third (Brian Anderson and Andruw Monasterio posted OPS+ figures of 86 and 87 respectively last year) based on his 2023 numbers, which were affected by a thumb in.
In this sense, Frelick is a solid backup option at third base in the rare event that Tyler Black is not ready for the MLB by 2024. He is a significant offensive boost over Turang at second base, even without a potential offensive breakout. This is assuming that his bat does not improve from 2023 to 2024 once he has fully recovered from his injuries. If Frelick’s bat improves, the Crew will consider ways to keep him on the field.
Frelick’s move to the infield, even if only part-time, opens up numerous trade possibilities. Now, the Crew can relocate one – or both – of Willy Adames and Turang, either getting aid in other areas or bolstering their farm system even further. Milwaukee could also send Turang to Nashville to work on his offense without wasting MLB service time (which may dramatically enhance the team in the second part of the 2020s).
Allowing Frelick to play infield could pay significant benefits for the Brewers in the coming years. On the one hand, it relieves the pressure to make a transaction involving their plethora of young, promising outfielders (Garrett Mitchell and Joey Wiemer, both of whom have played well in the minors and shown promise in the majors, are currently being considered for Nashville or the bench). It might bring more of those young batters into the lineup.
On the other hand, it adds to a middle infield stalemate, which could lead to the movement of Freddy Zamora, Ethan Murray, or other players who are trailing established players. We don’t know if 2024 will be Adames’ final season at shortstop with the Crew, or if an extension is worked out.
However, the Frelick move exemplifies the type of innovative thinking required for the Crew to succeed in today’s economic climate. In this case, the move might make the Brewers a force to be reckoned with in 2024 and beyond.
