The 3rd Man In

Should Milwaukee sign Segura to extension?

Last season was filled with struggles for the Milwaukee Brewers, as they had to deal with several injuries and the Ryan Braun suspension. Through all of the adversity, there was still one bright spot, young shortstop phenom Jean Segura.

In Segura’s first full season in the big leagues he was named to the National League All-Star team as he hit .325 prior to the Midsummer Classic. Segura, 23, cooled off in the second half finishing the year hitting .294 with 12 homeruns, 49 runs batted in, 10 triples and 44 stolen bases.

This incredible performance in his first full season raises the question: Should the Brewers lock Segura up to a long-term extension during Spring Training this year?

In May 2013 Segura’s agent, Joe Klein, told Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal that the Brewers offered a long-term deal to his client.

“They contacted me. Right now, I guess it’s in my court. But with a guy this young, it’s hard to figure out what the right numbers would be. It would be good, be nice if it was possible to do. But I don’t know. It’s way, way on the drawing board.”

Obviously the deal did not get done, and the bad part for the Brewers is that the price has gone up since last May after he had a terrific season.

It is never easy to put a price on a young player especially when they possess the potential to be the top player at their position when they hit their prime. Doug Melvin and Co. are known for locking up their young talent early on in their careers, and this spring Melvin will need to find away to get a deal done with Segura.

According to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish, and later by Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Brewers have interested in extending Segura this spring.

It has been common for the Brewers to sign their young talent to extensions during Spring Training, as last season they extended Carlos Gomez, and the year before that they locked up Jonathan Lucroy.

Segura is not eligible for arbitration until after the 2015 season, and cannot be a free agent until after the 2018 season, so the Brewers do not have to rush to get something done, but it would make more sense to do the deal now for both parties.

Signing Segura would allow the Brewers to lock down one of their coveted young players while buying out his arbitration years and possibly some of his free agent years.

Doing the move now would also allow the Brewers to hopefully get a discount on the price since they are giving Segura, who only has one year and 65 days of major league service, some financial security.

Segura is a special player, and the Brewers need to lock him up to an extension now, otherwise the price is going to continue to rise. He possesses the potential to be the best shortstop in baseball once he hits his prime, and if the Brewers do not get it done this year, there is a good chance that he will hit the open market as a free agent in 2018.

The time is now, and if the Brewers are serious about winning, and contending with the St. Louis Cardinals every year, then they have no option but to sign Segura to an extension this spring.

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