Catcher/outfielder Eric Haase cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Brewers, tweets Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Nashville. Haase has enough service time to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would require forfeiting the $1MM base rate at which he’d earn in the big leagues, plus the potential for a $50K incentive he can unlock for every 25th game he plays in the big leagues. Presumably, Haase’s split major league deal also has a nice rate of pay at the Triple-A level.
The 31-year-old Haase was one of baseball’s hottest hitters during spring training. That he went unclaimed on waivers serves as a reminder that spring stats don’t carry much weight with big league clubs. Haase slashed .395/.465/.868 with five homers, three doubles, five walks and six strikeouts in 43 trips to the plate.
After signing his deal with the Brewers back in December, Haase appeared slated to open the season as the backup to William Contreras. But the Brewers came to terms late in the offseason on a one-year deal with veteran Gary Sanchez, pushing Haase down the depth chart. The nature of his contract likely helped him pass through waivers, and he’ll now serve as a nice depth option for the Brew Crew in Triple-A.
Prior to the 2024 season, Haase’s entire career has been split between Detroit and Cleveland. His 2023 season was a down year that saw him slash just .201/.247/.281, prompting the Tigers to make a change of their own behind the plate. But from 2021-22, Haase split time between catcher and left field for the Tigers and turned in a combined .242/.295/.451 line with 36 big flies in 732 plate appearances.
Last year’s downturn at the plate was in part due to a reduction in average on balls in play (.297 from 2021-22 but just .268 in 2023), however it also can’t simply be chalked up to poor fortune. Haase made hard contact at a far lower rate (45.1% in 2021-22, just 35.9% in 2023) and put the ball on the ground more often than in any full big league season prior. He also hit infield flies at the highest rate of his career and saw a career-low 5.6% of his fly-balls become home runs after enjoying an 18.8% mark in that regard in the two preceding seasons.
Defensively, Haase is something of a mixed bag. Last year’s 24% caught-stealing rate was actually three percentage points higher than the 21% league average, and he showed improved framing marks after struggling in that regard in previous seasons. He also graded poorly in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt, however, and his broader body of work behind the plate has drawn below-average reviews overall.
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