MLB fan fests: All-Stars reveal the ultimate truth

Sure, they’re supposed to be all about slapping hands, spinning yarns, selling tickets and rolling out newly-acquired assets we once referred to as players. Yet, the winter fan festival/caravan can occasionally reveal greater truths about the upcoming Major League Baseball season.

Some half-dozen major league teams filled up convention centers, shopping malls and stadiums this past weekend, passing the time as the snow melted and the date for pitchers and catchers to report drew closer. Paste BN Sports dug up a few of the more telling quotes from coast to coast:

Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers: ‘He's a kid I could see being a Hall of Famer’

The kid in question is Corey Seager, of course, the 21-year-old rookie shortstop who symbolizes the Los Angeles Dodgers’ approach: Hold onto top prospects. Wheel and deal spare parts incessantly. And accrue as many useful major leaguers to outflank your rivals.

There was much angst in L.A. when the club let Cy Young Award runner-up Zack Greinke sign with the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks. The fear – and in some cases, loathing – was hardly allayed when the club opted to replace Greinke with an amalgam of Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda. A trade for reliever Aroldis Chapman fell through, and big-ticket lineup additions were non-existent, the club instead re-upping veteran infielders Howie Kendrick and Chase Utley.

So, what to sell in 2016? Seager, the consensus top prospect in baseball who got a trial by fire in batting second or third in three of the Dodgers’ five NL Division Series games against New York. That came on the heels of a 98-at bat audition at the end of the year in which Seager batted .337 with a .986 OPS.

This year? Seager, Gonzalez and third baseman Justin Turner figure to be the only constants in a lineup that will juggle two All-Star second basemen and four All-Star outfielders. That doesn’t even account for a pitching staff where you can already pencil in at least eight starters who figure to make multiple starts this season.

The juggling of roles and egos will be a daunting task for new manager Dave Roberts, who made a point to chat with slimmed down outfielder Yasiel Puig, who hopes to return to the club’s good graces after an out-of-shape, injury-plagued 2015.

That’s a lot of noise going on for any club, let alone the big-market Dodgers. Enough that Seager can quietly take his first steps toward what at least one teammate believes is a journey toward Cooperstown.

Adam Eaton, White Sox: ‘At the end of the day it's up to us. The last two years, it's our fault’

For the second consecutive winter, the White Sox made significant additions to a club coming off a disappointing year. This time, the reinforcements are infielders Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie and catcher Alex Avila, a trio that cost the club mostly prospects, rather than cash.

Still, it’s clear that after losing 86 games and finishing 19 games behind the world champion Kansas City Royals, third-year manager Robin Ventura may not survive another sluggish start in 2016.

“Robin's had a lot of pressure throughout his life," Eaton said, via Chicago’s Daily Herald. “I don't think he's too worried about it.

“When we put our big boy pants on and come ready to play and get the job done, you guys are all going to see what a great manager Robin is. He's a great manager and I stand behind that. It's our job to make him look good."

A rebound from 2015 acquisitions Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche would help, as would a strong final season from lefty John Danks. Shortstop Tyler Saladino is merely adept, but he could eventually make way for top prospect Tim Anderson, who could provide a midseason jolt in the manner Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor propped up the Astros and Indians last year.

It’s up to the holdovers to make sure Ventura is around to manage Anderson.

Ryan Braun, Brewers: 'It’s not like we’re breaking up a team that had a tremendous amount of success’

A lengthy suspension for performance-enhancing drugs and injury-filled seasons of decline took some shine off Braun’s status as Milwaukee’s franchise player. Still, his words carry some weight, and these seemed pointed at teammate Jonathan Lucroy, who indicated the club might be better off trading him if it launches a rebuilding project.

Lucroy is a free agent after 2017; Braun is signed through 2020, so he’s more inclined to toe the company line.

Still, Braun made several good points in the wake of the Brewers’ trade of starting shortstop Jean Segura to Arizona on Saturday.

“We’re not breaking up a juggernaut team that has gone to the postseason each of the last five years or something,” he said, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “I think we’re building toward something that we'll be able to have sustained success and have some impact players.

“We’re completely dependent upon our system being able to produce impact players. I think that’s something we haven’t done very well the last five or six years. If you look at our system right now there are quite a few guys that have a chance to come up and be impact players. So I look at it as an exciting time. It will certainly be challenging at times but I think we all have realistic expectations heading into the year and I think that helps.”

He’s not wrong – former GM Doug Melvin left the cupboard stocked, starting with shortstop Orlando Arcia, who will take over Segura’s spot early in 2016. Outfielders Domingo Santana and Brett Phillips, pitchers Zach Davies, Jorge Lopez and Josh Hader and Chase Anderson – acquired in the Segura deal – are either ready or will be before long.

So give Braun credit for both candor and accuracy. This season may be challenging in Milwaukee, but the Brewers were wise to accelerate what appears to be a promising future.

Joe Mauer, Twins: ‘The game is constantly evolving. You have to make (adjustments) if you want to stay’

Of all the “winter warm-ups,” the warmest and fuzziest by all rights should have been in Minnesota, where the Twins are coming off a surprising 83-win season, feature one of the game’s most punishing young hitters in Miguel Sano and will roll out another top five prospect in outfielder Byron Buxton.

This weekend, however, the real talk came from one of the Twin Cities’ favorite sons. Mauer turns 33 in April and will be seven years removed from his MVP season of 2009. Since then, he has battled concussions, moved from catcher to first base (and, as the St. Paul Pioneer-Press pointed out Sunday, won’t ever move back) and seen his production dip precipitously.

In 2015, he played in a career-high 158 games, but produced career lows in batting average (.265), on-base percentage (.338) and OPS (.718). Perhaps not coincidentally, his batting average on balls in play was also a career worst - .309, down from a career-high .383 in 2013 and .342 in 2014. Such a vast dropoff can’t merely be a matter of luck. Mauer’s slugging percentage - .380 last year, down from .476 as recently as 2013 – indicates he’s not driving the ball with the same authority. Mauer also attracted extreme shifts before they were trendy, prompting a fan to question if such alignments are his Kryptonite. “Maybe over time,” GM Terry Ryan said, “it’s working him in the head.”

The austere Twins aren’t in the dire financial straits they were a decade ago, but the three years and $69 million left on Mauer’s deal are still difficult to swallow for a player providing little power at a position that demands it. Mauer’s response makes one wonder if he’s of a mind to try and reinvent himself a bit in 2016.

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