JohnBriggs12

Glad you have a crystal ball and know what this team will look like a year from now. What, you're going to wait until the team is contending to bring him up? He might be stuck in minors until he's 30. Elite talent needs to play against the best to reach their full potential. Facing the type of pitching guys face in AAA doesn't test elite players. Just look at how the Brewers battered the Phillies AAA pitching staff last week. Fun to watch, but probably doesn't make them any better against better major league staffs. I suspect he'll be brought up around June 1st next year. Segura will go in a deal this winter, and they'll use a stopgap be it Sardinas, Perez (who could also be at 3B) or Gomez for a couple months. All young players need some time to adjust to major league pitching. The idea is that in a year or two, when Arcia is reaching his full potential, he'll be able to help make this team into a contender. What are you talking about a crystal ball? All I did was state my opinion on what I think the Brewers will do and partially what I think they should do. I'm sorry but if you can't handle someone's opinion a forum is not for you. I did nothing different than what you just said yourself. Actually it gave me a good laugh. I am glad your crystal ball is working too! You stated that "our team is garbage" in reference to a season that's a year away. That's as a definitive statement as can be and wasn't expressed as an opinion but as a fact. My opinion is that you must know something I don't. We have no idea of what the 2016 roster will look like now. At least I don't. So I guess I'm challenging that statement. Apparently you don't like your statements being challenged. Mine get challenged all the time. You are right, it comes with the territory.

Definitely a position of need and he fits the timeline for replacing Lucroy.

Lara's position future is totally open so I'm not even fretting over it. Most talented kids in their teens play SS or pitch. Until his body matures, we probably won't know where he ends up.

I think Young Geezy1 has hit on something with the embracing of the big stage. That appears to be in his makeup. Texas is a big time program and he excelled there. I'm excited about a rotation going forward that features Peralta, Nelson and Jungmann at the top of it. Is there an "ace" in that group? Possibly, but I think they push each other and regardless have the chance to be successful starting pitchers. They don't need vets like Lohse around to "guide" them. Those predicting a period of "darkness" for this franchise need to take off the shades.

Gennett is batting .268/.305/.482 vs. ALL lefties he's faced this season including those he saw at AAA. After getting off to such a slow start against RHP, they scrapped plans to play him vs LHP almost immediately (he made 2 starts vs. LHP). Understandable since the entire team wasn't hitting but a stunning lack of patience considering they spent all winter and spring saying he'd play everyday especially after he hit them so well at Colo Springs. He has just 21 PA against them in the ML. He was raking against them in AAA (.375/.412/.688), but he's only had a handful of AB's against them since his return, all against lefty specialist relievers who's job it is to dominate lefty hitters. I still think if they gave him consistent starts vs. LH starters who don't have hugs splits vs. LH hitters, that he'd do all right against them.

"we still have a substantial hole at 2b"? Really? A guy who just turned 25 with a .288/.321/.437 slash line in over 800 major league ABs is a substantial hole?

Because in this day of parity, it doesn't take much for a 75 win team on paper to overachieve and make things interesting for fans who are paying major league prices to attend games and because bringing up talents like Arcia to a team surrounded by scrubs is risky. They have young, talented controllable starters on the roster now. The next few years don't have to be bleak as they are building. Cardinals never rebuild. Remember I speak as a 62 year old. Baseball fans skew older. For many older fans, baseball is a big deal and the game is important regardless of the standings. I personally don't want seeing Bob Uecker in his waning years have to describe the 2012 Cubs for the next half dozen years. When you guys get to my age, and you love the game, you'll realize that every season is precious and you don't throw any away. Sure all could work out as you guys imagine or they could turn into the Pirates who despite drafting high year after year were doormats for well over a decade. What did bringing up a batch of young players at one time get them? Two playoff appearances. That's it. Oakland had more than that in the same time and never had a group of "can't miss guys" all at once. Guess what? A lot of "can't miss guys" miss. Rickie Weeks was never a star. Gomez is player that can bring you back both a currently serviceable but inexpensive major leaguer and a very attractive prospect. In looking at what the Jays have to offer one piece they have that's expendable is their current CF, who's relatively young, controllable and a pretty good player. A star? No. But removing Gomez from this roster does not leave this team without stars.

I've had my eye on Fulmer since I started looking at Mets prospects. He throws hard and has good stuff but he doesn't have the control. I just worry that he will be Hellweg 2.0. And to me, it doesn't matter where a guy was drafted. It doesn't matter if some guy was a 1st round pick years ago if he hasn't backed it up. That being said, it's not a bad starting point. I would take Fulmer and maybe have them throw someone else in, like Casey Meisner. Fulmer has a BB per 9 IP rate of 3.1 which is exactly half of Hellweg's career rate of 6.2. This season it's 2.4. Hellweg's minor league career WHIP is over 1.5. Fulmer's is 1.28 How are they comparable again? Parra isn't going to get both Fulmer and Meisner back. Now if you coupled Segura with Parra, then yes go for both, and maybe another lesser player like a Ceciliani who could compete for CF job post Gomez. Fulmer would likely crack the top 5 or 6 in Brewer prospect list. If they can get that for Parra, I'm ok with that.

One of the more realistic fans on a Mets board suggest RHP Michael Fulmer for Parra. Fulmer was a supplemental first rounder out of HS in 2011. and he's been lights out recently for AA Binghamton (0.59 ERA in last 5 starts) Given his age (22), relative proximity (likely within a year) to the majors and recent record of success, this is exactly the type of prospect they need to be asking for Parra. Mets are one team with the depth in young pitching that can afford to surrender of prospect of Fullmer's pedigree. That's why I think Mets of all teams out there might be best trading partner for arms.

If Gomez goes to Toronto, you get Kevin Pillar back as part of the deal. The idea the Brewers won't get any major league talent back for Gomez is a wrong assumption.

I'd want a heck of a lot more than a Haniger and Banda return. I'll get chastised once again but look at FA last year that got QO: Melky Cabrera and Michael Cuddyer. You guys out there telling me it's unrealistic to think Parra could be worth a QO, this winter explain how Cabrera and Cuddyer managed to get one? Bet Baltimore wishes it gave one to Markakis too in light of the deal he signed. Parra's been better this season than either of the prior two seasons Markakis put up. Cuddyer was 35 and only played in 49 games last year and still got a QO from Colorado and they ended up getting an extra first round pick (no. 27 overall). With that in mind, Brewers should be driving a very hard bargain. Parra's a very nice piece for a number of clubs. Make them pay your price.

Andrew Miller had 69 K's in 42 IP for Boston last year and a 2.34 ERA. No way is Cotts comparable to that. Miller was high leverage late inning guy with 13 holds for Boston pre-trade. Cotts for the most part has been used when Brewers were behind and has just 2 holds. Cotts has some value, but nothing approaching what Miller had.

Fantasy deal for wonks who get more satisfaction out of their team having a highly rated system than they do out of watching major league baseball. Will never happen. They can get a player of the quality of any one of those guys in the draft by holding on to Lind through 2016 and extending him a QO. Lucroy won't be traded before the winter of 2016 and he won't be dealt for Class A prospects who are rated around 100. Lucroy will bring a premier (top 25) prospect and/or major league controllable talent. In the meantime Brewer fans won't have to suffer watching the 2012-2013 Cubs in 2016-2017.

Glad your crystal ball is clear on how good the Brewers will be in 2017. Mine can't see beyond next week. There's a lot of successful pitchers in the big leagues who had doubters. Almost any pitching coach will say that the key to success for any pitcher at any level is fastball command. If you have that, you can get hitters out. It would appear that not only can he command his fastball but that he can get his other pitches over. If guys are getting themselves out early in counts, he's not going to accumulate too many strikeouts. Of course pitching against big league hitters might require an adjustment in his approach, but if the skill is there to throw it where you want, that can be learned too.

Glad you have a crystal ball and know what this team will look like a year from now. What, you're going to wait until the team is contending to bring him up? He might be stuck in minors until he's 30. Elite talent needs to play against the best to reach their full potential. Facing the type of pitching guys face in AAA doesn't test elite players. Just look at how the Brewers battered the Phillies AAA pitching staff last week. Fun to watch, but probably doesn't make them any better against better major league staffs. I suspect he'll be brought up around June 1st next year. Segura will go in a deal this winter, and they'll use a stopgap be it Sardinas, Perez (who could also be at 3B) or Gomez for a couple months. All young players need some time to adjust to major league pitching. The idea is that in a year or two, when Arcia is reaching his full potential, he'll be able to help make this team into a contender.

Russell filled out physically at a younger age. He's not exactly a power hitter either just yet. Arcia is slugging .454 at age 20 in Southern League. JJ Hardy slugged .428 in the same league at the same age. His potential is certainly 15-20 HR per year.

Hard to imagine any scout watching Lohse lately would recommend trading for him. Brian Anderson kept trying to spin it in his favor last night that he limited the damage and saying how frustrated he was, blah, blah blah, but there's no getting around the fact he's been hit hard repeatedly this year.

Twins have loaded farm system to be sure with lots of intriguing guys. Don't think Cotts alone gets all that much though. Might need to package him.

Garza's under contract through 2017. It didn't make any sense to sell low on him. If he starts off well next year, he'll have more value with less remaining on his contract than he would have this year even if he had been pitching decent. Kind of surprised they'd replace him with Knebel. Why not just activate Davis? They'd still have 12 pitchers. Now are they going to send Goforth back down or a position player, either Gomez or Peterson?

I don't follow this logic. Are we now basing trades on whether a guy is hot? Should expect the moon for Hernan Perez and Taylor Jungmann now? I would think GMs understand that a recent hot or cold streak has little effect on a guy's ultimate value. I would gladly take a B-level prospect (i.e., Coulter, Taylor) for either one of these guys now. They are not part of the future, their value is arguably at the highest, and we have other guys in the system that we could be taking a look at who play those positions. Sure those guys might not be future starters but they could be serviceable platoon or bench players. I could understand the argument for maybe keeping Lind since he has another year on his contract but I don't see his value getting any higher. And your quote on "controllable major league talent in return" is exactly why we have gotten to where we are now. Why do we constantly need to limit ourselves on a potential return. The ultimate goal should be to get the best talent back. I don't care what level that player is at, as great players will always be useful. Where are we now? Brewers are the hottest team in baseball right now with pieces other teams want. Brewers have prospects on the cusp of the major leagues, including at least one in Arcia with a very high ceiling and they also likely will have a pick in next year's draft in the top dozen. Lara too has to be considered an A list prospect even though he's in rookie ball. Controllable major league talent is major league talent nonetheless. Brewers are charging fans major league prices are they not? B level prospects are hit and miss with ceilings of average to below average regular major leaguers if in fact they ever stick in the majors. I'm skeptical of the attitude of "take whatever you can get" from a team. Maybe you can get a Dan Vogelbach from the Cubs for Parra. Vogelbach is probably a B+ or maybe an A- prospect and he's blocked there by Rizzo but I doubt the Cubs have offered him yet. Coming out and saying you will do whatever you must to trade an asset makes no sense to me. You need to drive the best bargain you can an if teams don't meet it, then have a plan B. PS. Coulter and Taylor are in Brewers top 5 prospect list. That makes them A level prospects by most measures. Brewers are not likely to get anyone's top 5 prospect using Parra or Lind alone. Combined? Maybe.

You contradict yourself in this post. You say "he shouldn't cost that much to acquire" and in same breath say "he should fetch something of value" Which is it? He's playing really well and he's just 28. Brewers could keep him, extend him a QO offer and if he signs elsewhere, then he does indeed "fetch something of value". Worst case is they are stuck with him for 2016 paying him Aramis Ramirez money for one year and you can trade Davis for considerable value. Why settle for B or C level prospects for two of the hottest hitters in baseball in Lind and Parra? Why not focus on controllable major league talent in return? I'd take Brandon Belt and a B level prospect for Lind and Parra. Lucroy and Braun aren't going anywhere. Seems kind of foolish to gut the entire rest of the roster around those two. Can you stop with the QO offer nonsense. It should not and will not happen. I will stop until the point the Giants or whatever team gets him extends him a QO. Then I will bring it up again.

You contradict yourself in this post. You say "he shouldn't cost that much to acquire" and in same breath say "he should fetch something of value" Which is it? He's playing really well and he's just 28. Brewers could keep him, extend him a QO offer and if he signs elsewhere, then he does indeed "fetch something of value". Worst case is they are stuck with him for 2016 paying him Aramis Ramirez money for one year and you can trade Davis for considerable value. Why settle for B or C level prospects for two of the hottest hitters in baseball in Lind and Parra? Why not focus on controllable major league talent in return? I'd take Brandon Belt and a B level prospect for Lind and Parra. Lucroy and Braun aren't going anywhere. Seems kind of foolish to gut the entire rest of the roster around those two.

Exactly. Parra is exactly the kind of player we should be looking to unload. I'd be modestly upset about a 8 figure per year extension for a player like him with the current state of the franchise. I guess we disagree about the current state of the franchise with the emphasis on current. It's apparently not nearly as bad as it looked back in May. 2015 was sabotaged by a terrible start, lack of hitting and poor pitching by the veteran well paid starters, and by injuries, but the core of the team is fine. A very good case could be made that this team is an ace away from being a top contender. Not this year certainly but in 2016, even if they do decide to deal Gomez, provided they get something back that's useful in 2016 as part of the deal. I'm not opposed per se in dealing Parra, but his price has gone up and if all teams are offering is one B level prospect, I'd at least be thinking twice rather than blindly sticking with the mantra that he must be dealt regardless of return. Parra is a FA and the more he hits, the higher his value in the FA market. Does that get to the point where you'd consider risking a QO on him in the offseason in hopes of landing a draft pick that might have more value than what he'd get you in a trade? Worst case scenario, you overpay him for 2016 and get that B level prospect next year in a deal.

Cal Eldred is a bad example. He was an ace and had ace stuff until he hurt his elbow after throwing 258 innings in 93 and being on that same pace in 94 when he was still pitching with a sore elbow until he couldn't anymore.

He'll get closer to double that. More like $27-33 million over 3 with an option. If he'd take 3 and 15, I'd sign him in a heartbeat if I'm the Brewers.