Brewers' deeper roster might leave Jesús Aguilar on the outside looking in

PHOENIX – As far as waiver claims go, Jesús Aguilar was about as good as it gets for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017.

Plucked from the Cleveland Indians less than two weeks before the start of spring training, the burly Venezuelan earned the unofficial title of “Mr. Cactus League” after hitting .452 with seven home runs and 19 runs batted in and posting an otherworldly OPS of 1.376. 

It was a performance that forced the Brewers to keep Aguilar and place him on his first opening-day roster despite the fact he only played first base, a rarity on a team that values positional versatility as much as any team in the major leagues.

Aguilar went on to prove the Brewers’ decision was indeed the correct one.

Playing in a career-high 133 games, Aguilar hit .265 with 16 homers and 52 RBI while serving as both the right-handed-hitting complement to Eric Thames at first base and the Brewers’ top bat off the bench.

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Among his big moments were a two-homer, seven-RBI game in a win over the New York Yankees, and pinch-hit, game-winning homers to beat the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies.

He was also surprisingly agile in the field, too, able to deftly turn 3-6-3 double plays and even played an inning at third base at one point despite weighing right around 300 pounds.

Less quantifiable but just as important were the contributions Aguilar made in the clubhouse, where he served as a leader and a unifying force despite his relative inexperience on a surprising team that displayed uncommon chemistry from the start.

“He added some great things right off the bat and he played well, and I think for every player that kind of gives you a voice,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was kind of the perfect storm in that way.”

In almost any other year, Aguilar would be a shoo-in to return and fill similar roles for the Brewers.

But this isn’t any other year.

Thanks to the unexpected 86-76 record the Brewers posted in 2017, the decision was made to quickly shift from rebuilding to competitive mode. That led to the late January acquisitions of Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain and left the team with a surplus of outfielders.

One of those, Ryan Braun, has spent the spring working out at first base with an eye on playing him there part-time moving forward. And with Counsell saying earlier in camp it’s likely the Brewers will carry 13 pitchers for much of the season, that means the bench will consist of only four players.

It’s math that doesn’t appear to work in the favor of a one-position guy like Aguilar.

“We’ve added players and we’ve added talent and Ryan’s playing first base,” Counsell acknowledged. “That puts Jesús in a tough spot right now. It’s part of some of the tough decisions that we have to make.

“There’s still things that are under consideration that I think can help Jesús. Right now, it’s not a perfect fit. But depth is something that we’ll always view as incredibly important here. It’s very helpful and at times it requires a decision, but we’re not there yet.

“And so we’re going to go as long as we can, and then we’ll have to make a decision.”

Aguilar reported to camp early and in noticeably better shape than a year ago, weighing in at 280. But his numbers aren’t nearly as eye-popping as they were last spring; he's hitting .333 with two doubles, two homers and seven RBI through 16 games.

With just over two weeks remaining before Milwaukee’s season opener in San Diego, Aguilar admitted he’s feeling the heat – an uncharacteristic admission from the normally even-keeled slugger.

“It’s hard because you think, ‘What’s going to happen with me?’ Especially when you come from a good year,” he said. “But it’s baseball. It is what it is. They try to win more games and battle for the title and if I’m part of the team, it’s going to be great.

“If not, I keep moving forward.”

If Braun produces anywhere close to what he’s done offensively in past years and manages to stay healthy – a huge if based on recent history – the Brewers would be fine moving forward without Aguilar.

Much tougher to replace would be the camaraderie that Aguilar engenders.

From the popular forearm-bashing homer gantlet he and Hernán Pérez cooked up early last season to the pre- and post-game dance parties to the visual of him zooming around Miller Park on a hoverboard, Aguilar specializes in bringing smiles to everyone’s faces.

“I just try to be friendly,” he said. “This game is so hard so I just try to take things the right way but also stay focused. We know what we have to do here. So I try to have a fun personality.”

Aguilar spends much of his time around fellow Venezuelans and friends Pérez and Orlando Arcia. But he also possesses a unique ability to draw multiple cultures together, and does so often.

“He really is special in the clubhouse,” Braun said. “He does a unique job of getting along with everybody, bringing positive energy every day, helping make everybody’s day a little bit better and always bridging the bond between the Latin guys and the American guys – which, anybody who’s spent time in a clubhouse understands the value there is there.”

Aguilar believes the unity in Milwaukee’s clubhouse was a big reason the team was able to greatly surpass expectations and finish second in the National League Central despite the rebuild.

“We didn’t have a lot of big names last year. I think that’s why we did those things last year, because we were like a family, the Latin guys and the American guys,” said Aguilar. “Usually on other teams they’re like two big groups, separated. Here we’re together and very good friends. We’re very friendly with the American guys. We’re like a family.

“The things we did last year, nobody believed in us and we won 86 games.”

There are ways the Brewers could keep Aguilar on the opening-day roster, like juggling their pitching staff, but it would only be a short-term solution that would get them through the first week.

Aguilar is out of minor-league options and considering what he brings to the table at a bargain-basement price – he made $536,000 last year and isn’t arbitration-eligible until 2020 – there’s no question he'd be snapped up quickly off waivers by another team if Milwaukee is ultimately forced to cut him loose.

In the meantime Aguilar waits, and hopes he'll get another chance to contribute to a Brewers team he believes is on the cusp of big things.

“Stay positive. That’s the only thing I can control,” he said. “Just keep looking forward and a lot of good things will happen. I believe that.”