Bnowell4evr

I'll go with Logan Gilbert.

The Astros would have to add more to McHugh, not the other way around. The Astros tanked his value by moving him to the pen.

That’s one example, and it’s not even as bad as you’re making it out to be. Segura was a top 60 prospect and I saw Hellweg as high as the Angels #6 prospect. In other half season rentals, the Indians got two highly rated prospects from us in Laporta (Brewers #1) and Brantley (who they picked over Cain and Lucroy) plus two others. And the Yankees got Torres, who was a top 30 in all of baseball prospect, plus others for a half season of Chapman. It depends on how the Orioles view Arica but I think assuming Supak and Ponce are the types of pitchers the Orioles would settle for is severely underrating Machado’s value. As I said, he’s putting up MVP numbers. They aren’t accepting a deal for a struggling shortstop with severe offensive question marks and two low ceiling starting pitching prospects who aren’t even organizational top 10 prospects in a weak system. The CC Sabathia trade is not a comparable deal because that was still when you could get comp picks when trading for a rental. Since CC was a type A free agent it allowed the Brewers to receive 2 high draft picks along with 2 months + of CC Sabathia for LaPorta, Brantley and throw ins. Since they removed the comp picks for players traded in season, it has drastically changed what teams could receive in return. That's why I don't look any further back than 2012 when they made that change. - Yu Darvish was traded for 2B/OF Willie Calhoun (B), RHP AJ Alexy © and SS Brendan Davis © - JD Martinez for IF Dawel Lugo (B-), SS Sergio Alcantara © and Jose King (UR) - Zack Greinke for SS Jean Segura (B Prospect), Hellweg was a (B- prospect) and Pena (C+ prospect) according to Sickels prospect rankings at the time. For comparison you're talking about a trade of Woodruff (B), Dubon (B-) + 1 of Jon Perrin, Phil Bickford, Zack Brown, Adrian Houser, Jorge Lopez or Trey Supak (C+). The Aroldis Chapman deal is the max a team can expect for a rental and that included 1 elite prospect, 1 former highly regarded prospect with some warts, 1 ML Ready player to fill a void and then a lottery ticket. Torres was a B+, McKinney was a B, Warren had an ERA over 5 when he was traded and Crawford has never been anything of significance. The trade would hurt but it's nothing like giving up 4 of our top 10 prospects like others have suggested in this thread.

If the Orioles are looking for a replacement for Machado then they won't find their replacement from prospects. Of the top 10 SS Prospects according to MLB Pipeline. - Only 4 teams are at or above .500 in the standings. (Rockies, Nationals, Rays & A's) --The Rockies would never trade 6 years of an elite prospect like Brendan Rodgers for a rental. --The Nationals have Carter Kieboom to offer but he's only in A+ ball and is a few years away from playing in the majors. -- The A's and Rays would never trade their elite prospects for a rental when they're just fighting to stay above .500. Because the Orioles aren't planning on a complete rebuild, it makes major league shortstops with control like Russell and Arcia that much more appealing.

Manny Machado isn’t your typical rental though. He’s putting up MVP caliber numbers at a premium position and he’s in the prime of his career. He’s not some reliever or #3 type pitcher. Yes his value is diminished but multiple teams will still come calling. Arcia might tempt them but he’s struggling terribly right now and if Baltimore doesn’t think this is an outlier then Arica is worthless to them. Greinke as a rental brought back Jean Segura and two hard throwing AA pitchers with major control issues. Are you trying to suggest that Greinke was perceived as a #3 when we traded him to the Angels? Honestly, Orlando Arcia and two pitchers like Cody Ponce and Trey Supak is the best they could hope for. The Cubs are perceived as the favorites because they have Addison Russell that they would be willing to part with.

The thought that Brewers would have to give up 3 borderline top 100 prospects for a half season of Manny Machado is completely asinine. History suggests that rentals require 1 premium prospect and usually a couple more filler types. Aroldis Chapman is an outlier in that he brought back a 2nd quality prospect in Billy McKinney when the next best prospect is usually someone like Ariel Pena or The Ultimate Warrior Johnny Hellweg. IMO any trade for Machado probably starts and stops with Orlando Arcia. The Orioles top SS prospect is playing in rookie ball and their 2nd best SS prospect is a 23 year old in A ball posting a sub .700 OPS. They may be asking for a pitcher or two but SS should be their number 1 target in a trade. It's unfortunate about Mauricio Dubon because we might have been able to build a package around him and another pitcher or two not named Burnes or Peralta.

This is a similar situation to when the Packers signed Andre Rison. He was considered done after a stay in Cleveland and Jacksonville. We all know how that worked for the Packers.

I think the Brewers need to find a taker for Broxton to use those prospect(s) in a deal for Archer. Santana and Woodruff would be expendable and a great way to start the package. Tampa will still need another 2 quality prospects and hopefully one comes from a Broxton trade.

He's basically a two-pitch pitcher with his fastball and slider. He doesn't have a changeup to use against righties so they club him like a baby seal

Santana, Woodruff, Ray/Grisham & Pennington is the most that I would offer.

What would Arizona be looking for in return? If we're talking about moving a Villar or Broxton type then I'm all in. If we have to to move a legitimate pitching prospect or one of our better outfielders then I would pass. He's got some warts but Stearns loves pitchers with good breaking balls and Corbin has a great slider.

Archer or Salazar is going to happen.

Ellsbury hit .274/.367/.429/.796 vs RHP a year ago, so he's still a solid platoon player. You would still get decent production from an Ellsbury/Broxton platoon if Stearns decides to trade from his outfield depth.

The yankees writer who reported the rumor claims that Albert Abreu would be coming to Milwaukee. He was signed when Stearns was still in Houston.

I'm betting on Salazar being the pitcher that Domingo Santana lands. It won't be a 1 for 1 deal since Santana has a bit more value. The Indians lack relief options so a decent prospect or two will be needed.

His OBP was .005 points lower than Thames. And his career OBP is exactly the same as Thames OBP was this year. If he’s no good at getting on base then neither is Thames. Abreu is also 4 years younger than Thames. Abreu is actually just 2 months younger than Thames. But your point about OBP is correct. A slugger's job isn't to get on base anyway, it's to drive in the guys who are on base. Part of Thames on base ability is that he struggles with putting balls in play, and thus naturally gets deeper in counts Abreu has reached 100 RBI in every season, all on some weak White Sox teams. Thames hit .180 with RISP. That doesn't get it done. Abreu would be a clear upgrade. I'd offer them Thames, Broxton and one prospect not in the Brewer's top 5, and another outside the top 25. Every hitters job is to reach base without making an out.

2017 Thames vs RHP - .265/.382/.551/.933 Aguilar vs LHP - .301/.365/.524/.889 Abreu vs RHP - .288/.339/.528/.866 Abreu vs LHP - .356/.402/.631/1.033

His OBP was .005 points lower than Thames. And his career OBP is exactly the same as Thames OBP was this year. If he’s no good at getting on base then neither is Thames. Abreu is also 4 years younger than Thames. I should have said that Abreu isn't good at taking walks. His walk percentage is 6.5% in his career so his OBP is completely BA dependent. If his batting average drops .020 his value tanks. If I'm going to invest in a RH first basemen he better be a HOF caliber player like Frank Thomas, Albert Pujols or Paul Goldschmidt who are/were perennial .400 OBP + .500 slugging type. I'm a big believer in balanced lineups and 1st base is the easiest position to stick a quality LH bat. If we make a trade for Abreu and Brett Phillips doesn't beat out Broxton or Brinson then you're looking at a lineup with Shaw and Villar/Sogard as you're only LH starters. RH pitching will eat us up just like it did in the Doug Melvin days.

This seems like a foolish way to use resources for a minimal gain in OPS. Eric Thames had a higher OBP a year ago than Abreu who hasn't been that good at reaching base for 3 years running. I'd stay well away from any RH 1st basemen.

This is the decision that I keep going over in my head and I don't know if I can stomach giving up what it would require to get it done. The 4 years of control is HUGE and will cost a ton! I believe you have a great base for the deal with Brinson, Ortiz and Diaz but I think they would want another piece better than Cody Ponce. I just think about what we had to give up for Zach Greinke and that was for half the team control! The 4th piece would have to be someone like Woodruff, Burnes or Erceg who are all top 10 prospects in our system. That's an awful lot to give up for a guy who only throws 2 pitches. Granted those 2 pitches are ELITE...

Cobb and Cashner scare the heck out of me. Neither guy could strike me out at this point in their career.

I'd rather do what it takes to sign Mike Minor or Jake McGee in free agency. I'm hoping we save all of our major trade pieces for an elite starting pitcher.

Does that include the 100K we can offer without going into our bonus pools?

I'm hoping that Braun gets healthy and we can send him to the Dodgers for Brandon McCarthy, a reliever like Josh Fields and a prospect. I'm not inclined to trade anyone who might be apart of our future.

Thames can play corner OF too. Lots of flexibility on the roster. There just is not enough playing time for both Thames and Wieters. Are you going to play Thames over Braun or Santana? The only way you are getting more playing time is if Braun is traded and you put Thames in LF and have Wieters play 1B. That is probably the only situation where you will have enough flexibility on the roster and enough playing time to play both Thames and Wieters. There just is not enough playing time available to add Wieters to the roster right now. You gotta figure that Braun is gonna miss about 30 games next year. That opens up significant playing time alone..