Fear The Chorizo

I don't want our 2 best power hitters to be part time players. Since that's not going to happen, I think you can rest easy. Part of my last post was aimed at earlier posts in the thread speculating that the Parra trade was a precursor for Davis to be traded at the deadline, too. This thread just has a weird mix of "don't like the trade because RR will now probably bench Davis", "hate the trade because Haniger could become a serviceable OF in 3-4 seasons", "ok with the trade but wish there would've been a bigger splash", "should've stayed pat because Parra isn't much better than Schafer", and "love the trade because one of the main roster deficiencies of this Brewers team was poor backup OFs and LH options." I'm sure the actual outcome of this trade is somewhere in between all these opinions, but let's at least have the team play a few games with Parra on the roster to see how it shakes out. Otherwise we're all going to make the guy in 'Office Space' a lot of money... http://themoornextdoor.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/office_space_kit_mat.jpeg

Now you want a straight platoon with Davis basically now only starting once every 4-5 days? who's advocating this? This seems like a strawman unless a poster actually stated 'thank goodness, now we can sit Davis on the bench most of the time' definitely not a straight platoon with Davis only. On days when the Brewers face a LH starter (probably 25-30% of their remaining games), I want Davis, Gomez, and Braun starting in the OF with Parra on the bench. On days when the Brewers face RH starters, I want to make sure the regular starting OF's (again, Davis, Gomez, and Braun, all RH bats) get enough days off to keep them fresh down the stretch. I would lean towards Parra replacing Davis in the lineup a bit more often than Braun or Gomez, simply because Braun and Gomez are better hitters against RHP than Davis is. The Brewers have 6 scheduled off days the rest of this season - Braun will need a few more than that. Gomez may be able to play everyday through that but odds are he'll need a game or two off at some point too. Both Braun and Gomez have largely been scuffling through July, which likely is the reason the entire offense has been struggling recently. Parra can't play multiple positions at the same time, so on days when he's taking Braun's or Gomez's place in the lineup Davis will also be playing. For every 10 games the Brewers face against RH starters, Parra probably makes 6 starts - probably 4 in place of Davis, 1-2 in place of Braun when he needs a day, and 1 for Gomez if he needs a day. for 70-75% of their remaining games against RHP, Parra starts 60% of the time - adding in the games against LH starters, Parra starts around 20-22 games against RHP during the remaining 53 games of the season. He'll likely be Davis' late-inning defensive replacement, too. So we're really pissed about a LH bat that's much better than Schafer taking AB's from Braun over 2-3 games, Gomez for 1-2 games, and Davis for 8-10 games for the rest of this season? For reference, Schafer's had about 10 games-worth of ABs in RF (for Braun during injury/rest), 8 games-worth in LF (Davis off days), and 4 games-worth in CF (Gomez offdays, as I believe Schafer was hurt when Gomez served his suspension). Schafer's AB's would've been higher had he not been injured himself early on this year, when Herrera and other even worse OF options were getting quite a few ABs. I just don't get it.

Parra won a GG for his outfield defense in 2013. And in 2011. Can't remember many calling it a close race between Parra and Schafer for that award last season. I get that it's an award given away often to underserving recipients but come on - Parra won those GG's because he's a great defensive outfielder, not because he happened to catch alot of flyballs and he hit 35 HR either of those seasons.

Bombers, you forget we also landed Yuni B in that blockbuster...it was pretty much Greinke for Jake O. straight up, and Yuni B for the trio of other MLB-ready prospects as a deal sweetener.

has bonafacio from the cubs been dealt yet? He's not in their lineup today... Cabrera rumored to move over the 2nd, probably along with serving as a utility IF

TB GM probably calling every team between now and the deadline asking, what would you give me for Price?? Then floating out to the twitterverse every team they've talked to in effort to drive up value hoping a team gets desperate. I still think he's going nowhere unless they are run over by a huge offer.

Braun isn't completely healthy, and he won't be the rest of this season. He needs days off to keep his thumb/oblique/other ailments from flaring up. Gomez needs a day off every 1.5 weeks to keep fresh at this point of the season, too. These two players are needed to stay healthy during the stretch run, and they've already been spelled on occasion by Schafer. Parra doing that is a roster upgrade. Parra giving Davis a day off a bit more often than that is an upgrade also, especially against RHP. Over the course of 10 consecutive games against RHP, if Parra starts around 6 of them (3-4 in LF, 1-2 in CF, 1-2 in RF), it's no different than what the current off day schedule is for Braun and Gomez. Add a few PH opportunities and late inning defensive replacement assignments, and Parra's essentially an everyday player. I ask, why not?

If Henderson's healthy, they pretty much need to make that decision in the near future, yes...which a healthy Henderson would serve as another RH power arm in that pen that would be difficult to improve upon outside of getting Uehara (if he's even available)

If Henderson's healthy, they pretty much need to make that decision in the near future, yes...which a healthy Henderson would serve as another RH power arm in that pen that would be difficult to improve upon outside of getting Uehara (if he's even available)

Morneau in the starting lineup today against the Cubs...keep an eye on whether he gets pulled off the field at any point over the next two hrs!

Parra's a "bench player" only by the definition of him being the primary backup/quasi platoon mate to all 3 OF positions. He'll likely end up getting almost everyday OF ABs simply by how often he's in the starting lineup as a LF, RF, or CF. He's a starting-caliber OF who's taking the role of a AAAA reserve, which vastly improves the MLB roster.

if the Brewers trade for Price, regardless of what they give up, if I'm a reporter the first question I'd ask Melvin is why the heck do you wait until after facing Price to try and make a deal? With all the trades STL is making, it's hard not seeing the Pirates get desperate and offer the Rays a pile of quality prospects/young players for him that the Brewers' system can't compete with...IMO, that would actually be a good thing for the Brewers longterm.

I'd call it more like a quasi-platoon for the entire RH-hitting OF...going to face more RH pitching than anything, and having one of Davis, Gomez, or Braun available to come off the bench during Parra starts will be a nice plus.

Davis/Parra platoon, with Parra giving Braun and Gomez days off as necessary - Parra's a huge roster upgrade as the 4th OF who can play any of the 3 positions serviceably.

Goldschmidt I'd like that trade....maybe AZ doesn't think he's gritty enough!

my money's on the Cubs...and I'm not really kidding

Who's on your list of Brewer top 10 prospects? Of those 10, there are very likely 5 of them that won't amount to any kind of MLB quality...Being a good GM is about identifying which of your own aren't going to excel and moving them when their value is at its peak. I'll gladly give you a name or two off that list that I wouldn't think twice about trading for 1.5 years of Morneau, when the MLB team is desperate for a LH bat to put towards the middle of the order and play 1B.

Brewers would have to give a up a top 10 prospect to get Morneau Top 10 in the current Brewers' system? To me that's absolutely worth it for the roster hole he would potentially fill. Morneau's under contract through next season at a pretty manageable amount.

IMO, Price would've been moved prior to his start yesterday if TB had offers on the table they were seriously considering. TB's very likely to see if they can get hot this season and then make the Price trade sweepstakes the centerpiece of the winter meetings. Morneau makes so much sense for the Brewers right now...get it done, Doug! Wouldn't be surprised if the Pirates were trying to reacquire him, too.

I thought Allen Craig to Boston made sense at some point - he's the type of corner OF/1b/DH, RH bat that can play well in Fenway, and at some point Taveras and Adams need to play everyday in STL. Boston's having a great trade deadline that should set them up to reload quickly this offseason, IMO.

so Masterson and Lackey are essentially replacements for Wacha and Kelly/Garcia in the Cards' opening day rotation. meh - to me that just makes the Cardinals' rotation older and more expensive. Whether Wacha makes it back healthy and productive this season is actually the pitching move that scares me the most.

What's Morneau's contract status? IMO, he's the target the Brewers should make a strong push for - inserting that LH bat into the lineup and having Reynolds as a platoon mate and power bat off the bench to pinch hit and give ARam the days off he'll need to stay fresh is about the best thing for this roster that can happen. I'd be willing to overpay in order to get that done, too. Does Estrada, Roache, and Jungmann get this done?

The comment about no meaningful talent coming from the farm for the forseeable future has been repeatedly used ever since Mat Gamel was supposed to set the world on fire from 1B. I'm not counting Segura, because he's only here due to being traded for. Since then, Davis, Gennett, Thornburg, Henderson, Peralta, Maldanado, Kintzler, and now Nelson have been called up and have established themselves as "meaningful" MLB players. That's excluding the extended cup of coffee a guy like Fiers has gotten at the MLB level, too. Unlikely that any of these guys are going to be winning MVP's or Cy Youngs, but they are all players who are good enough to be part of a winning ballclub. I agree that the next can't miss franchise cornerstone flying through the minors doesn't seem imminent right now, but saying because of that the Brewers won't get any help from within for 2-3 seasons isn't accurate, IMO. Lucroy's garnered MVP-level consideration during parts of this season, and when he was first brought up to Milwaukee I don't remember any hour-long specials narrated by prospect experts extolling how great he was going to be, either. Hunter Morris has been a disappointment to say the least - that coupled with Gamel's injuries ending his MLB chances have really opened a gaping hole in the organization at 1B. I agree that something needs to happen there, both at this trade deadline and over this offseason, to fill that hole solidly for a few seasons until some of the bats who could play that position at lower levels have a chance to develop.

did someone steal Billy Beane's cellphone this morning? Melvin should call it and offer Estrada for someone the Brewers could really use and see what happens!

.256/.303/.767 .253/.305/.782 The guy with the lower OPS and higher price tag just got dealt to the Red Sox for John Lester The other guy plays left field for the Brewers almost every day.