Milwaukee Brewers: Analyzing What The Mike Moustakas Signing Means

It was announced earlier on Sunday that the Milwaukee Brewers have re-signed veteran third baseman Mike Moustakas on a one-year contract.

The news was first announced by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic on Sunday that the Milwaukee Brewers will bring back Mike Moustakas.

There have been rumblings all winter about a reunion between Moustakas and Milwaukee. Now that spring training has started, Moose was eager to get into camp.

What Does Moustakas’ Contract Look Like?

The Brewers signed Moose on a 1 year/$10 million deal with a mutual option for 2020. This is the exact deal that we predicted in our Hypothetical Perfect Offseason Plan for the Brewers.

The only way Milwaukee would’ve been able to bring back Moose was on a one year contract. They wouldn’t be willing to go multiple years for him because of the proximity of second base prospect Keston Hiura.

What Does This Mean For Travis Shaw?

The “default” scenario all offseason was Travis Shaw moving back to third base, where he’s most comfortable. Instead, Shaw will head to second base for a full season this time. He spent most of the second half of 2018 at second base and didn’t play terribly over there. Although his lack of range did hurt him.

The small sample size of 39 games at the keystone wasn’t bad, but he will now be the regular third baseman for 162 games in 2019. With the amount of shifting the Brewers do, his lack of range can be hidden.

Shaw has stated recently that he’d be willing to move to second base to make room for a Moustakas return. Now he will do just that.

What Does This Mean For Keston Hiura and Mauricio Dubon?

The two middle infield prospects the Brewers have are now going to have to wait. Before this signing, we could’ve easily seen both Keston Hiura and Mauricio Dubon in Milwaukee by mid-June. Now the debut dates for those players are likely going to be pushed back.

When it was a Hernan Perez–Cory Spangenberg platoon, any sign of struggles or lack of productivity would’ve led to a Dubon call-up, and then if Dubon didn’t dominate, Hiura would’ve gotten the call.

Dubon could still earn a call up in early May, but he’d be a backup option only, and would only see regular starts if there was an injury to anyone in the starting infield.

Hiura might get his call up pushed back to September. The Brewers can get that extra year of control over Hiura and that extra year of development for him. While some may believe he’s ready for the big leagues now, we’re going to have to wait until later into 2019 to see him.

Moustakas will be done in Milwaukee after 2019 and his 2020 mutual option will be declined. Barring something unforeseen, Keston Hiura will be ready to take over the starting second base job at the start of the 2020 season, and Travis Shaw will move back to third base. This is the stopgap situation the Brewers were looking for.

This signing has bad implications for Mauricio Dubon, however. He would’ve gotten a chance to start at second base and get a chance to really prove himself in the big leagues before the Moose signing. He won’t push Shaw for a starting lineup spot, and likely won’t see much time in the starting lineup unless there’s an injury to Shaw, Moustakas, or Orlando Arcia.

By the time 2020 rolls around, Hiura will have passed Dubon and will take the starting second base job. Shortstop is locked up by Arcia already. Dubon won’t get a chance to start with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Dubon is valuable depth right now in case of injury, but his future in Milwaukee is getting murkier and murkier.

The Milwaukee Brewers vastly improved their chances of winning in 2019 with the signing of Mike Moustakas and have solidified their infield. This is a great move by David Stearns.

This is the window of contention for the Milwaukee Brewers right now. They may not get a better chance. Nothing is guaranteed in this game. This move answers another question about this Brewers team and solidifies their status as a World Series contender even more.