MILWAUKEE – Kolten Wong and the Brewers have agreed to the terms of a multi-year contract, a source told MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi, a deal that, if completed, could have significant implications for young second baseman Keston Hiura. Brewers have not confirmed the deal with Wong, which would remain pending
MILWAUKEE –
Brewers have not confirmed the deal with Wong, who would be pending a physical examination.
MLB network informant Ken Rosenthal reported that it was a two-year, $ 18 million deal with a club option that could increase in value to $ 26 million in three years.
Wong, 30, is well known to Brewers fans after eight seasons with the St. Louis fans. Louis Cardinals. He dropped .261 / .333 / .384 in a Cardinals uniform, surpassed 108 more weighted runs created in 2017 and 19, and won the Rawlings Gold Glove award in each of the last two seasons.
Some of Wong’s best work was against brewers. His .781 OPS against Milwaukee was the highest against a Central National League opponent, and Wong’s .855 OPS at American Family Field (formerly Miller Park) is his best figure in any Major League stadium in which has recorded at least 50 appearances on the plate.
Adding offense has been a priority for David Brewers baseball operations president David Bearers since he sneaked into last year’s extended postseason with a regular season record of 29-31, despite setting records of questionable franchises for the lowest batting average per team (.223) and the highest whiff rate (26.6 percent) while ranking 27th out of 30 Major League teams at 4.12 runs per game . But finding the right fit took time; Stearns operates on a tight budget after a season with no fans in the stands.
Stearns found a solution with creative thinking. Assuming Wong stays at second base (700 of his 710 Major League starts have reached that position; the other 10 were on the field), the Brewers could move on to Hiura, who is entering his third season in the League. Major, at first. Hiura is a promising offensive player who scored 19 times in 314 bats after a call-up to the Majors in 2019, but is a below-average defender.
Last year, when the brewers were struggling to find production at first base, they briefly considered giving Hiura some representatives there. But it never materialized in the games, in part because Jedd Gyorko and Daniel Vogelbach combined the position at the end of the season.
With Wong, the Brewers could line up a field with Hiura and Vogelbach getting bats at first base, Wong at second, Orlando Arcia or Luis Urías at short and a question mark still at third. Urías could play there, although he has not achieved much strength. The Brewers also signed Daniel Robertson, a former top candidate who has not made it to the Major League level but is only 26 years old.
Adam McCalvy has been covering MLB.com Brewers since 2001. Follow him Twitter and Instagram and likes Facebook.