Offseason: Would you consider trading Corbin Burnes?

[adambr2]

I've accepted that Burnes will be a Brewer for no more than 2 more seasons. 

The Brewers are stuck in the position of being a good but not great baseball club, and simply can't compete with the resources of the larger market clubs in the NL to expect to come out of the NL anytime soon without a whole lot of good luck going right in October. 

Peralta and Ashby have been extended.  Perhaps Woodruff, somewhat less costly of an asset than Burnes, could be extended to help keep the pitching staff mostly in tact?

A trade for Burnes could come close to a Juan Soto type return in terms of capital for setting the club up for the future, while at the same time the team could avoid a full blown rebuild and still reasonably expect to be competitive in the weak NL Central. 

If you don't move him this offseason, the returns start diminishing significantly. Go for it with your ace the next 2 seasons, or move him at the winter meetings?

[wibadgers23]

If Stearns gets an absolutely monster offer, which is completely possible, then you have to consider it. Between Woodruff, Peralta, Ashby, Small and Gasser, you probably have enough to compete for a playoff spot. 

[StearnsFTW]

I'd trade anyone for the right price, but yeah, it'd have to be in Soto territory for me to actually pull the trigger.

 

One bona fide Ace prospect, one bona fide hitting prospect, preferably on the infield and a couple other fringe top 100 types. 

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, StearnsFTW said:

I'd trade anyone for the right price, but yeah, it'd have to be in Soto territory for me to actually pull the trigger.

 

One bona fide Ace prospect, one bona fide hitting prospect, preferably on the infield and a couple other fringe top 100 types. 

If you’re afraid to let a good player walk as a free agent, you may as well tear it down to the studs and start over.

If you trade Burnes due to the rationale his value goes down the longer you keep him. He’s a top 5 pitcher in the NL and maybe even in MLB. By that same logic then there  is no reason to keep anyone else who has 4 years of service time without a multiyear extension in place. 

 

 

[phnxcrew]

Yes.  You need to make a decision in the offseason if you’re actually going to go for it, or not.  It looks like we are going into a transition to the next “window” and in that frame we will need to add some one to ashby/ peralta, with corner infielders that are typical 3/4 batters.  take a shot at extending burnes, or use him to get another ace and two big bats on the infield.  you’d have to think the big markets would give us anything and everything for him.

[Brewcrew82]

25 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

If you’re afraid to let a good player walk as a free agent, you may as well tear it down to the studs and start over.

If you trade Burnes due to the rationale his value goes down the longer you keep him. He’s a top 5 pitcher in the NL and maybe even in MLB. By that same logic then there  is no reason to keep anyone else who has 4 years of service time without a multiyear extension in place. 

 

 

There's no "maybe" with Corbin being a top 5 MLB pitcher. He most definitely is one, as he's statistically been the best pitcher in baseball since 2020. Obviously, a healthy DeGrom takes the top spot, but Corbin is right there after him in terms of dominance. 

As for whether we should look to trade Burnes THIS offseason, I think we're looking at the wrong starter. Woodruff would be the better candidate as he is older and also a top 10 pitcher since 2020. Not quite Burnes level of dominance, but still one MLB teams would fork over a small fortune for considering what the Reds just got for Castillo. Every effort for now needs to be expended on extending Burnes imo, as he's looking more and more like a true generational-type pitcher.