Milwaukee Brewers: Could They Claim Hansel Robles?

Hansel Robles was recently designated for assignment by the New York Mets. Should the Milwaukee Brewers claim the 27 year old righty?

After the Milwaukee Brewers designated Boone Logan for assignment to make room for Freddy Peralta, the Crew has had an open spot on the 40 man roster. Normally, these spots don’t stay open for long.

Brewers GM David Stearns is all about acquiring depth and pitching depth is of very high importance. Which is why it’s not out of the question for him to put in a claim for Hansel Robles from the Mets.

Robles is making $900k this season and has three more years of arbitration before becoming a free agent. At 27 years old, Robles is the kind of young, controllable player that Stearns loves to grab.

How has Robles been this season?

Since he was designated for assignment, he clearly wasn’t doing that well. Robles has a 5.03 ERA this season in 16 appearances covering 19 2/3 innings. He also has a 1.57 WHIP with a career high 4.6 BB/9.

One of Robles’ major struggles this season has been with home runs. He’s allowed seven homers this season, enough for a 3.2 HR/9. Considering a good HR/9 ratio for a pitcher is less than 1.0, this has been a poor first half for Robles. This is more than double his previous career high home run ratio.

It could be an outlier of a season for Robles, but he doesn’t have a history of dominance at the big league level. His best season came in 2016 when he had a 3.48 ERA in 77 2/3 innings.

Why should the Brewers claim him?

Robles is still a young pitcher with another several years of control. He’s struggling with walks and a high hard-hit % this season, but could be a diamond in the rough once you get him away from the Mets.

The Brewers can claim him and option him down to Triple-A. He does have a minor league option remaining. David Stearns loves pitching depth and he’s another bullpen arm that Stearns can rotate in and out of Milwaukee. And it doesn’t cost anything to get him.

Is Colorado Springs really the best place to put a pitcher who’s struggling with fly balls and walks? Maybe not, but if he can figure it out there, he should be able to be an effective pitcher at the big league level. With an open 40 man roster spot, the Milwaukee Brewers can afford to take the risk and bring Robles into the organization.

Next: When Will We See Brad Miller?

This looks a lot like some of the other David Stearns’ moves we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. He claimed Alec Asher and Tyler Saladino after they were DFA’ed and traded for Brad Miller. It wouldn’t shock me to see Robles join the Brewers either.