Catcher is signed through 2017
The talks seemed a little preemptive at the time. Tuesday, Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathon Lucroy decided to discuss it.
“It was a proposal that would have kept me here for the rest of my career, most likely,” Lucroy told MLB.com. “We gave it to them in early January, and when we got to Spring Training, they informed us they weren’t interested in doing anything at this point in time.
Lucroy is signed through 2017. He’ll make just $4 million next season and he has a team-option for $5.25 million in 2017, which Milwaukee will pick up barring some unfortunate luggage accident. Heading into 2018, Lucroy will be 32 – the same age Russell Martin was, when he signed a five-year, $82 million contract with Toronto.
It may have been a good gamble for Milwaukee not to guarantee a bunch of money to one player two years down the road for five years after that, now that Lucroy is batting just .237 with three home runs. When he brought the proposal to the team, Lucroy was coming off a .301, 13 home run season.
But now that Lucroy is buy low, perhaps the team should rethink extending him, instead of trading such a favorable contract away, as the rumors begin to flow before the July 31 trade deadline. The Minnesota Twins could be interested – if you want to believe one blurb. The Twins need a “hitting catcher” because Kurt Suzuki is batting .225, so look no further than Lucroy, all of 12 points higher, to switch to the AL and light up Target Field, as every player seems to do.
But, every other player on the Brewers is on the block, why not Lucroy, one of the best bargains in baseball for the next two seasons past this one.