BREWERS ACQUIRE THIRD BASEMAN TRAVIS SHAW AND TWO PROSPECTS FROM RED SOX

[Mark87]

The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired third baseman Travis Shaw, shortstop Mauricio Dubon, right-handed pitcher Josh Pennington and a player to be named or cash from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitcher Tyler Thornburg. The announcement was made by General Manager David Stearns.
“We are pleased to add three young and talented players to the organization,” said Stearns. “Travis provides another left-handed power bat, bringing balance to the lineup. Mauricio is a highly-regarded prospect who brings us speed and plate discipline, and adds further infield depth. Josh is a promising young prospect who further improves our stock of power arms throughout the system.”
Shaw, 26, a left-handed hitter, batted .242 with 16 HR and 71 RBI in 145 games during his first full Major League season for the Red Sox in 2016. He made his big league debut with Boston in 2015, batting .270 with 13 HR and 36 RBI in 65 games. Shaw has made 182 starts over two Major League seasons (104g at 3B, 78g at 1B). He had five RBI in a game four times in 2016, tied for the most such games in the majors. The son of former Major League pitcher, Jeff Shaw (1990–2001), he was selected by Boston in the ninth round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.
Dubon, 22, who was ranked by Baseball America as the seventh-best prospect in the Red Sox organization following the 2016 campaign, has batted .306 with 14 HR, 154 RBI and 73 stolen bases in 330 games during four minor-league seasons. He batted .323 with 6 HR, 69 RBI and 30 stolen bases in 124 games between Class-A Salem (62g) and Double-A Portland (62g) in 2016. He was a Carolina League All-Star at Salem and recently played in the Arizona Fall League. Dubon was selected by Boston in the 26th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft.
Pennington, 21, owns a career record of 7–4 with a 2.29 ERA in 20 games (19 starts) during two minor-league seasons. He has held opponents to a .205 batting average with 71 strikeouts in 78.2 innings pitched. He went 5–3 with a 2.86 ERA in 13 starts at Class-A Lowell in 2016 and 2–1 with a 0.82 ERA in 7 games (6 starts) with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox in 2015. Pennington was selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft.
Thornburg, 28, went 14–9 with a 2.87 ERA and 13 saves in 144 games (10 starts) during five seasons with Milwaukee, including 8–5 with a 2.15 ERA and 13 saves in 67 relief appearances this past season.

 

[57packer]

This seems like a decent haul of mid-level talent for a guy who likely was not in the long range plans. They'd have probably lost Thornburg as a FA in a couple of years. I suspect Shaw becomes the starting 3rd baseman next year. Dubon and Pennington likely end up at AA next year.

Does this make an even dozen shortstops in the majors and minors now? The number is just hyperbole, and not saying there is anything wrong with that, but they sure seem like they are collecting shortstops.

 

[Crease Creature]

I heard the new 3B can't hit lefties.

Shortstops are useful, I've always thought it's because they can play just about anywhere.

 

[57packer]

Yup heard the same thing. I'm thinking Perez will get some of his starts at 3rd against lefties. Perez is OK. A platoon would not be the worst thing.

I guess we'll see. He's still a young guy. He might get better hitting lefties with more chances. Gennett has gotten better against lefties over the last couple of years.