Other Valuable Brewers: Yuniesky Betancourt

by Noah Jarosh on Nov 21, 2011 2:00 PM CST in Most Valuable Brewers 2011

Or, "Other Brewer With Some Value, Technically, but Really is Utterly Worthless: Yuniesky Betancourt".

When the Brewers traded for Zack Greinke, I think the general sentiment was that it was a good pickup. Sure, the Brewers gave up a number of good prospects, but a team needs to pay well for a pitcher of Greinke's caliber. Unfortunately, the Brewers traded away their only decent shortstop, Alcides Escobar, in that deal. But they received a replacement in that same trade! Yuniesky Betancourt!

Most people realized that Betancourt was a suboptimal option at a key position in the field. He had a good defensive reputation coming up in the Seattle Mariners system, but never showed any ability to move laterally in the majors. But at least he had one discernible talent: He hit 16 home runs for Kansas City in 2010 and seemed like he could build off that towards, potentially, a 20 HR season.

Little did we know that Betancourt would have the second worst offensive season of his career in 2011. After a .300 wOBA in 2010, he dropped all the way down to .278 in 2011. The only season he was worse was in 2009 when he had a .271 wOBA. Betancourt has shown pretty much no desire to improve. His hitting numbers have fluctuated from bad to "No, seriously, I really do think I could play better than this guy". His walk rate in 2011 was tied for the worst of his career as he had just a 2.7 BB%. Of course, Betancourt not showing a desire to improve is nothing new. He had these problems back when he was with the Mariners, and he has them now.

But, hey, at least the Yuni era could be over. Betancourt is a free agent after the Brewers declined a team option on him. Of course, the Brewers now need a shortstop with nobody in their system even close to being able to play the position in the majors. Clint Barmes is off the market, and the contract Barmes' was given might have inflated the market enough that the Brewers won't be able to afford options like Rafael Furcal, much less Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes. There are other shortstop options. Alex Gonzalez and Ronny Cedeno come to mind. They would almost certainly be an improvement over Yuni, but how much so really?

My prediction: Doug Melvin signs Betancourt to a two year, $7.5 million contract and I become a Mariners fan full time.

Two .gifs illustrating Useless Yuni's worthlessness after the jump.

via www.fangraphs.com

Poll

If you were forced to choose one of these two players to be on the Brewers roster next year, who would you pick?

Yuniesky Betancourt

353 votes

Jeff Suppan

97 votes

450 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 49 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

This poll can kiss my shiny white ass

I got goons.

by Dikembe Meiztombo on Nov 21, 2011 2:03 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

Truly gut-wrenching poll

Please add a “retire from GM duties and change careers to selling tires at JC Penny to avoid making this decision” option.

by nullacct on Nov 21, 2011 2:26 PM CST up reply actions

A) Yuniesky Betancourt, B) Jeff Suppan, C) Eric Gagne

If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!

by SRB on Nov 21, 2011 2:41 PM CST up reply actions

This question isn't fair, Noah!

You could have at least softened the blow with a 3rd bad choice, like Jody Gerut. Or Braden Looper. More bad choices, please!

FanGraphs should consider a venue for a Gallery Night... they could even serve a cake with a Win Expectancy Chart of the 7/7/11 Brewers' game etched in the frosting, and 7-up. Oh, yeah - and t-shirts that say "SABR-Friday." I'm totally there.

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 2:31 PM CST reply actions

I was thinking the same thing.

Between Betancourt and Suppan, it’s no contest.

Between Betancourt and Looper, I’d have to think for a little bit.

Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector

by -JP- on Nov 21, 2011 2:38 PM CST up reply actions

I think Jorge Julio could take Looper's place, if that helps.

It would raise the level of difficulty, because there is always someone to be upset with in a bullpen. Looper might make things too easy for me. Hmmmm…

Talk about orange juice on a paper cut!

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 2:51 PM CST up reply actions

I don't know if it does help.

While Julio wasn’t good, he could be kept out of important situations. Looper had a big contract, and there really wasn’t much competition for the rotation that year. With that contract, he’d most likely get the #5 spot in the rotation over Narveson because of that alone.

Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector

by -JP- on Nov 21, 2011 3:10 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

Yes. This is why it would be better to have Looper on the list.

I just thought having Julio on it would make things more challenging, because there is not enough of a reason to choose either Suppan or Betancourt over Jorge.

With Looper as choice C, I’d be even more inclined to vote Betancourt, and I don’t like that I voted for him.

I don’t like that I voted!

We are the Brewers fans; the many, many many special Brewers fans.

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 3:16 PM CST up reply actions

Ok, that makes sense.

Having an option that I’m more inclined to pick over Betancourt.

Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector

by -JP- on Nov 21, 2011 3:40 PM CST up reply actions

that's like saying

would i rather smash my thumb or my big toe with a sledge hammer.

helluva a choice

by slamtheking on Nov 21, 2011 2:37 PM CST reply actions 3 recs

Would have to be your big toe surely?

I guess though you could smash either or both repeatedly for at leat 15 minutes with a steam powered sledge hammer and still be more useful in the field than Yuni. Or pitch better than Suppan…

"I love it when any team called 'The Brew Crew' wins": Tad Kubler
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool

by MrLeam on Nov 21, 2011 4:35 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs

I am refusing to answer, upon moral grounds.

But we might have our lead-off question for a baseball edition of “Would You Rather.”

by mpbMKE on Nov 21, 2011 3:45 PM CST reply actions

Here's one that would make people think.

Most people think that McGehee would be worse to have around than Betancourt right now (though I don’t fully subscribe to that), so how about this choice. You have to choose between these two players. You can get rid of one, but whoever stays is guaranteed to be around starting the majority of games for the team for the next two years. You could also choose to keep both for the next season but then lose both after the season. What would you choose?

Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector

by -JP- on Nov 21, 2011 3:47 PM CST reply actions

Makes me also wonder about the following question...

If you ended up trapped in a nightmare, and the nightmare was about watching a team of Brewers that you hated to watch the most, what would the 25-man roster of that team be? (Note that I’m not talking about players you hate because they’re on other teams, I’m talking about players you hate because of how bad they were as Brewers.)

Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector

by -JP- on Nov 21, 2011 3:51 PM CST up reply actions

Sounds like fun

C Henry Blanco, Paul Bako
1B Kevin Barker, Sean Berry
2B Ron Belliard, Jeff Hulse
3B Jose Hernandez
SS Sheff, Jose Valentin
LF Marc Newfield
CF Chuck Carr, Devon White
RF Alex Ochoa

SP Jaime Navarro (2nd stint)
SP That redheaded guy from 1997
SP Nick Neugebauer
SP Ben Hendrickson
SP Kyle Petersen

CL Turnbow
SU Gagne
SU Eric Plunk
SP/RP Jamey Wright
SP/RP Glendon Rusch
SP/RP Wayne Franklin
RP Eric Plunk

That’s a real 90s-palooza, plus some early 2000s Predictable. Anyone remember Jack Voight? I don’t.

by mpbMKE on Nov 21, 2011 4:13 PM CST up reply actions

How soon we've all forgotten Wil Nieves...

"I love it when any team called 'The Brew Crew' wins": Tad Kubler
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool

by MrLeam on Nov 21, 2011 4:36 PM CST up reply actions

Aghh

You made the scar on my forehead hurt.

If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!

by SRB on Nov 21, 2011 7:37 PM CST up reply actions

Listing Plunk twice is a Riske move.

by Noah Jarosh on Nov 21, 2011 4:58 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs

Can we include minor leaguers?

Because if we can, I want Carlos George, 2008 edition.

by Cheeseandcorn on Nov 21, 2011 6:18 PM CST up reply actions

I liked watching Turnbow even when he was terrible.

It was exciting!

If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!

by SRB on Nov 21, 2011 7:38 PM CST up reply actions

You never knew where that next pitch was going

No matter where the catcher lined up.

by cwolf20 on Nov 22, 2011 12:59 AM CST up reply actions

McGehee

But only if you don’t specify that he has to start those games at the position he played in 2010. Mat Gamel could be great, or he could suck, or be somewhere in the middle. If he sucks, but Taylor Greene doesn’t (another logical leap that I am asking you to make with me), then it’s no different having McGehee over there for two years while you try to find a better 1B. But Yuni must go.

by mpbMKE on Nov 21, 2011 3:52 PM CST up reply actions

Betancourt.

I’m going to find a swimming pool that has freezing, freezing cold water and look at it. And decide it wouldn’t be worthwhile to take a swim, but just look at that water.

Brrrrr……

The difficult thing is that you’ve got a two year time-line. I’d say (suffer through) McGehee for one year.

And I don’t like Betancourt as much as you can dislike someone if you aren’t much into violence. Like, one time during the playoffs; someone slid into Yuni and spiked him (according to Ueck, at the time). . . and I surprised myself because my first reaction was “how dare you try and hurt our…whatever-he-is?!”

We are the Brewers fans; the many, many many special Brewers fans.

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 3:55 PM CST up reply actions

This is still better than thinking about putting Ketchup in a chocolate malt and having to drink it.

Ughhh. Don’t think about that!

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 4:01 PM CST up reply actions

McGehee.

I changed my mind to McGehee, but he’s got to stop frowning like Charlie Brown. He looks like Charlie Brown when he’s lost at the plate.

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 4:08 PM CST up reply actions

Presented as commentary

for the top GIF:

by mpbMKE on Nov 21, 2011 3:49 PM CST reply actions

Where did my link go?

Is it here?

by mpbMKE on Nov 21, 2011 3:49 PM CST up reply actions

Flagged.

The whole darn thing.

"People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."- Rogers Hornsby

by icecreamman on Nov 21, 2011 4:47 PM CST reply actions 5 recs

How do I flag myself?

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 4:54 PM CST up reply actions

I had my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday.

I’m not sure I am in the correct state-of-mind to answer questions like this, anymore, because I remember a friend’s advice a couple of years back. She said some things on the phone to the wrong person, and that person was an employer.

I don’t know what she said, exactly.

but, anyway – don’t fire me from Brew Crew Ball if I gave a bad answer regarding McGehee/Betancourt. Also, the new picture I’m using for my profile is me with my baseball glove and an officially licensed MLB baseball. You’ll be able to tell I had my wisdom teeth pulled, I think.

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 5:35 PM CST reply actions

(I'm back from a nap. I guess it is Monday today, so it wasn't yesterday I got them pulled. It was Saturday)

…still, I can only blame myself for voting, even without a right way to vote.

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 8:12 PM CST up reply actions

So, by my count, the following Brewers (who have been part of the team for a major part of the season) have not been covered yet:

Casey McGehee
Craig Counsell
Josh Wilson
Mark Kotsay
Takashi Saito

I wonder what order they will be covered in (if at all).

Contributor on Brew Crew Ball, Commissioner of Prognostikeggers, Owner of a broken sarcasm detector

by -JP- on Nov 21, 2011 6:12 PM CST reply actions

And Saito is, to me, the unsung Brewer hero of the year.

The others..I can live without reading or thinking about for a long, long time.

by kotsaythebuzzkill on Nov 21, 2011 7:26 PM CST up reply actions

Before seeing the poll I found myself thinking "I wonder if the Brewers have ever had someone so universally disliked as Yuni"?

The guy has NO supporters (unless we have just made them afraid to tell us they really do like him).

And then…oh yeah…Sup. How could I possibly have forgotten about him?

As for the poll itself, it’s hard to say. With Sup you’re pretty much guaranteed to be furious every five games. But Yuni gets started every damn game no matter what he does. Six of one…

by kotsaythebuzzkill on Nov 21, 2011 7:32 PM CST reply actions

Where's WarWolf?

"People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."- Rogers Hornsby

by icecreamman on Nov 21, 2011 8:22 PM CST up reply actions

I think WarWolf is ironic in his support

by cwolf20 on Nov 22, 2011 1:00 AM CST up reply actions

I think Yuni is ironic in his play

"I love it when any team called 'The Brew Crew' wins": Tad Kubler
"LOLOL I LOVE YUNI!!!!": ThroughBeingCool

by MrLeam on Nov 22, 2011 3:18 PM CST up reply actions

Soup's disasters tended to be of the spectacular variety

So we seem to remember them more vividly.

Whereas yuni just sort of dulls you to the pain of incredibly horrible sub-replacement performance over a longer period of time. Similar to a leech, he’s just sort of there; sucking the life out of the team.

by Chuckiehacks83 on Nov 21, 2011 8:33 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

At least you could hide Suppan in the pen.

Our manager starts Yuni almost every God. dammed. day.

Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.

by cooper82 on Nov 21, 2011 8:32 PM CST reply actions

Yeah, I should have added that they would be required to be in a starting role, as well.

by Noah Jarosh on Nov 21, 2011 9:05 PM CST up reply actions

I would still vote Suppan and bitch all year about how stupid our manager is to start Suppan over better pitchers.

Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.

by cooper82 on Nov 21, 2011 9:23 PM CST up reply actions

2005 vs. 2008

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 10:40 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

I've got the LookoutLanding link for this.

Here

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 10:42 PM CST up reply actions

2005:

If Plush had to pick Wearwolf or Vampire, I'm a Wearwolf!

by SRB on Nov 21, 2011 10:47 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

There is a play in 2008 I've always liked a lot.

Link

So we both have provided the ’05 and ’08 for JJ. Things were probably a lot better for us than Seattle fans!

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 21, 2011 11:17 PM CST up reply actions

He also made great plays in 2011.

Like this. Which, rewatching again, is still really, really impressive.

by Noah Jarosh on Nov 22, 2011 12:12 AM CST up reply actions

It's impressive because it was easy for him.

And it was easy for him because he wouldn’t have done that, otherwise.

Not no way, not no-how… (I am shaking my head).

I’m usually not an unhappy person, but Mr. Golden Hands needs to stop blocking all of the good things in the atmosphere.

by Jess'HittheBall on Nov 22, 2011 12:44 AM CST up reply actions

I mean, yeah, it looked impressive

But I’m sure I’m not alone when I say a lot of shortstops pick that before the base, step on the base and throw for a routine double play.

But it sure looked damn good the way they did it.

by cwolf20 on Nov 22, 2011 1:04 AM CST up reply actions

I said it all year.

Yuni makes hard plays look impossible, and routine plays look impressive. He is that slow.

"I haven't been out carousing." -Aaron Rodgers

by gavitron9 on Nov 22, 2011 10:06 AM CST up reply actions

Comments For This Post Are Closed

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

NL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Cincinnati Red Reporter	25	20	.555	0	Lost 1
St. Louis Viva El Birdos	25	21	.543	0.5	Lost 2
Houston The Crawfish Boxes	22	23	.488	3	Won 4
Pittsburgh Bucs Dugout	21	24	.466	4	Won 1
Milwaukee Brew Crew Ball	19	26	.422	6	Won 2
Chicago Bleed Cubbie Blue	15	30	.333	10	Lost 10