Winter Meetings notes: Brewers’ Stearns on Dubon, Pennington
By Sam Dykstra/MiLB.com
NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland — The Brewers and Red Sox made waves at the Winter Meetings on Tuesday with reliever Tyler Thornburg heading to Boston and corner infielder Travis Shaw, prospects Mauricio Dubon and Josh Pennington and cash or a player to be named later headed to Milwaukee. Read all about the deal and the players involved HERE.
Here are some select quotes about Dubon, Pennington and the state of the Brewers farm system from Milwaukee general manager David Stearns’ discussion with the media Tuesday morning:
On the Brewers’ wealth of shortstops: “It’s a focus of ours in that we like acquiring athletic players. Athletic players have the ability to move all over the field. Shortstops are generally among the most athletic players on the field. So the result is that we’ve acquired a number of shortstops, and we’re fortunate to have depth at that position, both at the Major League level and throughout our system. In the case of Dubon, we think he is a viable Major League shortstop in the future. We also think he has the defensive versatility to move off that position, if that is the best path for him as a Brewer. We’re very excited to bring him into the organization.”
On Dubon playing center field in the Arizona Fall League: “Frankly, it can probably be anywhere on the diamond. He’s a very athletic, baseball-savvy kid. He has very strong baseball instincts, and we think he’s likely going to be able to play wherever we need him to play.”
On Dubon’s skill set: “I would say he’s both athletic and skilled. He has tremendous bat-to-ball skills. He’s a very good baserunner, and he’s really excelled in every spot the Red Sox have put him. He’s adjusted to different circumstances very well.”
On whether Dubon will start in shortstop or will be moved around in his first season: “We have a developmental philosophy where we try to get all of our players, even our top prospects, exposure to multiple positions. So Mauricio will be no different. But I anticipate next year his primary position will be shortstop.”
On seeing Dubon in the Fall League: “We had a number of looks at him this season and at the Fall League. I saw him briefly at the Fall League at one of the games I went to. Certainly what we saw just confirmed that he’s a strong prospect and we had interest in him.”
On what they saw in Pennington: “He pitched healthy all of last year. We’re excited to be able to bring that type of high-upside arm into the system. It takes a little while for guys to regain the arm strength after Tommy John, and we believe he has.”
On the developmental track of rebuilding the Brewers are on: “Certainly, we set out to acquire, develop and ultimately retain as much young talent as we possibly could throughout our organization. That’s been our strategy consistently. I’m pleased that we’ve been able to add that amount of young talent, and our goal is to continue that.”
On Pennington potentially hitting triple-digits: “We had not seen him hit triple-digits. He’s got a big arm. It would not surprise me if, at some point, he touched it. We saw him up to 98, 99 relatively consistently, but no one put in a report that he hit triple-digits.”
On if Pennington has a good comp in Tyler Thornburg himself: “Yeah, there was someone in the room that made that comparison. Every player develops a little bit differently, so we’ll see how Pennington develops. But Tyler Thornburg obviously turned into a very valuable Major League pitcher, so that’s not a bad comp.
On how they view Pennington’s Tommy John surgery: “I don’t think we ever look at surgeries as a plus. We’re certainly pleased that he has recovered from the surgery, that he pitched healthy and that he’s regained his arm strength.”
On what levels the two players will start at: “Dubon will start at either Biloxi or Colorado Springs, and we’ll have, I’m sure, ample time to discuss that. Pennington probably starts somewhere in our [Class] A ball hierarchy, and we’ll have time to discuss that in Spring Training as well.”
On the potential Pennington plays full-season ball: “We’ll certainly look at that in Spring Training. My anticipation is that that’s going to be an option for us. Sometimes, you try to limit pitcher’s exposure and innings, so you start them out in extended [spring training] and get them out to a full-season league sometime a little bit later. We’ll have to discuss with our player development staff and pitching coaches what we think is the best path for him.”
On what Dubon and Pennington add to an impressive farm system: “Anytime you add additional talent, you’re adding new skill sets. We don’t have any players in our system who can do exactly what Dubon and Pennington can do. Each provide a unique skill set that helps improve our depth, and certainly we anticipate both will be Major Leaguers.”
