HiAndTight

Well, he was bound to slump and even for a slump, those are numbers I can definitely live with given his defense and his power numbers in CF. Still worth 8 million per. I never thought he was a .330 hitter, but I could see a .285/.335/.480 type line with 25 HR's and 40 SB's.

What amazes me is that he was actually a good athlete coming up. Not a great athlete, but he wasn't this big plodding clogger he is now. And your first sentence is what makes him so intriguing. Unlike others, I think Dunn could play into his 40's. Does anyone really think it's hard to imagine a 40 year old Dunn playing DH for the Yankees in a platoon situation hitting 25 or so HR's? Of course he's still likely going to strike out 30 pct of the time(or more) and walk 12-15 pct of the time and end up hitting .220, but there is value in that. If this was 15 years ago, I don't think there would be a debate. He's very likely to end up with 600 plus, or at least upper 500's in HR's. Writers have their milestones that make you an unquestioned HOF'er. 500 HR's has always been that in MLB. Mow MAYBE because of the omission of guys like Sosa, Bonds, Raffy, Big Mac and others who are tied to steroids like shoelaces, the writers will have the guts to take away these arbitrary guidelines for making the HOF which has left out more worthy candidates than it's let in IMO. Now this isn't exactly Bill James or Cameron and I don't agree with all the players on the list, but he does make some valid arguments in here, both on the first page about sports writers being stuck in an antiquated way of thinking, and some of the players who've made it. Guys like Maz who you mentioned, or Rizzuto. Of course the guy also claims Eck shouldn't be a HOF'er because he was a reliever ignoring the fact that he was a stud pitcher at age 20 and a 20 game winner by 23/24 and started for 8-9 years. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1093821-ranking-the-25-least-deserving-mlb-hall-of-famers-and-who-should-replace-them/page/8

There are two things just absurdly flawed in this post. 1st-Your referencing WAR. It assumes that the majority of the writers look at WAR. It also takes what he's doing THIS season in which he's been incredibly unlucky with a .215 BABIP. AND his defense has always killed his WAR. If the writers made their decisions on "WAR," then Mike Trout would have been the MVP last year. But they didn't. RBI's and HR's gave Cabrera the edge over Trout by a wide margin. 2nd-You're stating that it's a FACT that he won't get in. That's just asinine. I don't look at Dunn and think he's a HOF'er, but based on the history of the writers, if he does end up with 600-650 HR's(and again, he's still just 33 years old) which isn't even a high projection based on recent years(again, 8 of the last 9 he's hit 38 or above). Absurdly flawed? That seems a bit excessive and just as asinine as you getting upset that some completely dismiss Dunn's chances. Looking beyond WAR and its flaws and writers mentality you ignore the fact that the writers have never even deemed one single season in Dunn's career to be worthy of putting him the top 20 players in his league let alone all of baseball. The fact that his highest MVP vote season is 21st is pretty telling on where he ranks as a player vs. his peers. Not to mention a measly 2 AS game appearances. He doesn't meet any standard I would expect of a HOF player, even Greg Luzinski did better in MVP voting and AS game appearances. Dale Murphy can't get much above 20% in HOF voting and he is/was much better than Adam Dunn. Just looking at the Baseball Reference page using their formulas for HOF he's not close and isn't going to get close because he only has one thing to build on, HRs: Black Ink Batting - 4 (425), Average HOFer ≈ 27 Gray Ink Batting - 87 (270), Average HOFer ≈ 144 Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 73 (264), Likely HOFer ≈ 100 Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 31 (296), Average HOFer ≈ 50 JAWS Left Field (131st), 16.4 career WAR/17.4 7yr-peak WAR/16.9 JAWS Average HOF LF (out of 19) = 64.9 career WAR/41.4 7yr-peak WAR/53.1 JAWS Now when my argument is based on the fact that writers historically have liked counting numbers more than stats like WAR which 99 pct of the general public doesn't understand. And then you continue to cite it. And no, I'm not getting personally upset as I'm not invested into this emotionally. I actually started the thread because I thought it was interesting. I don't think Adam Dunn is a HOF'er. But he's an INCREDIBLY reliable HR hitter, and guys who hit lots of HR's without the stink of steroids get into the HOF.

Why he was in AAA? Because he was dominating. He was one of 2 pitchers with an ERA under 4.00 and it was under 3.00 in the PCL. Again, I hate to do this because I tend to associate the "boards opinion," which almost always is unanimous or it's dismissed, but Hellweg has shown flashes of a plus slider and a plus change. I'd hesitate to give him another start, but I'm still very much excited about his future. I'm not more disappointed in Hellweg's start than I was in Fiers hot start last year. He has the stuff to be dominant and a #1 pitcher(though I've always said a lot of pitchers have that stuff, but I think it's reasonable(35 pct chance if I had to guess) that he'll end up a #3 starter with a ERA under 4.00. Sending him down to AA does absolutely nothing. I'd ALSO like to add it's IMPOSSIBLE to know how Hellweg would have fared as of late had he gotten just good defense. Not great defense. Heck, even average. What should be a couple double plays turns into a couple runs scored. Instead of escaping the inning with limited or no damage bobbled balls, throws to the wrong base(he's been guilty) where he went for the lead out instead of the double play on what should have been routine. Hellweg's numbers wouldn't be good based on how he's pitched either way, but they could easily have been better. He's still got a 6/1 GB/FO ratio, he's got a 96-98 MPH heavy fastball, and two pitches that are hit or miss. He has thrown some VERY good sliders and some even better changeup's(Votto). The biggest problem I see with Hellweg is even on a site like this that preaches sample sizes, we're giving up on a potential ace after 10 IP and a plethora of poor plays in the IF directly or indirectly leading to runs. Send him down, try out Nelson who I like a little more, and if he struggles, go with Gallardo/Lohse/Gorz/Peralta/Hand with Thornburg as a long man. Or heck, if he keeps pitching well, maybe he ups his trade value(I don't have faith and I don't believe he has the upside of the Nelson, Hellweg, Pena, Peralta, Jungman, even Bradley and other types because of his fastball on a string. He could be thrown in with a guy like Ramirez to off-set the money issue. Just an afterthought.

If he's still hitting 40 HR's a year, he'll have a job. Just like Carlos Pena who's older and has 309 PA's so far this year. I don't think he'll have any problem landing jobs with teams like Tampa, KC, Minnesota, Houston, Oakland, Baltimore just among the teams that I think he'd be able to land with later on in his career. And again, it's pretty much the consensus around here that BABIP is a stat determined in large part by luck, correct? His is actually at .214 right now, 71 points below his career average, and his strikeout rate is down. If his BABIP was just average his OBP and BA would be in line with his career norms. And he's averaged 145 games and 600+ PA's since he his second year in the league at 22. Just playing devils advocate because he certainly doesn't look like a HR to me, but as we're moving out of the steroid era, the guy's still hitting 40 HR's a year, and even 700 HR's is within his reach without any allegations of steroid use.

There are two things just absurdly flawed in this post. 1st-Your referencing WAR. It assumes that the majority of the writers look at WAR. It also takes what he's doing THIS season in which he's been incredibly unlucky with a .215 BABIP. AND his defense has always killed his WAR. If the writers made their decisions on "WAR," then Mike Trout would have been the MVP last year. But they didn't. RBI's and HR's gave Cabrera the edge over Trout by a wide margin. 2nd-You're stating that it's a FACT that he won't get in. That's just asinine. I don't look at Dunn and think he's a HOF'er, but based on the history of the writers, if he does end up with 600-650 HR's(and again, he's still just 33 years old) which isn't even a high projection based on recent years(again, 8 of the last 9 he's hit 38 or above).

700 isn't a guarantee? Because Bonds, the poster boy for steroids didn't get in his first chance? I would say if someone hits 700 HR's without the stench of roids like Bonds, they're a lock. I still think 600 is a lock if a guy isn't connected with steroids.

Yeah, it's certainly an interesting discussion -- I love threads like these. The "is 500 HRs an automatic Hall(of Fame) pass?" question's particularly interesting. And it'll be fun to see how many HRs Dunn can chase down before he has to hang 'em up. Like you noted ('The' Dew Deck shot, because, yeah... I think everyone remembers that shot), he's not exactly lacking for power. Just bumping the old thread. Dunn with 23 HR's right now, and the White Sox hottest hitter after finishing with 41 HR's last year, the second most of his career. 439 HR's already in his age 33 season. He has a legit chance to finish his age 34 season with 500. Another very poor season with the BA, but he keeps hitting 40 HR's a year(he's on pace again for 40+ HR's this year. And his BABIP this year is .215, so he's been incredibly unlucky. BB and K% are down. I have no real rooting interest here other than I would take some satisfaction from seeing Dunn hit 600 after ender called anyone brainless who thought he had a chance to get in. It's actually amazing how consistent he's been hitting 40 HR's throughout his career. 8 of the last 9 seasons he's hit at least 38, two years he hit 38, 4 with 40 and 46 and 41.

He likes Milwaukee, he's approached the team in the past about re-signing here. I'd say sign him to a 2 year 12 million dollar deal with 4-6 in incentives and hope he becomes a trade asset. The Brewers FA signings the next year or two(at least) should be geared towards signing players who will be trade able in the future. Like they did with K-Rod. Like they did during the lean times. Ect...ect....

1-I think both sides probably believe this to be the case. AT least when he was hitting .350-ish. But a .320 hitter who steals bases at a 90 pct clip, hits 20 HR and plays really good D at SS for the time being(I'm imagining a Arcia-Segura duo in about 5-6 years when Segura moves back to 2nd base, but that's just me). Either way, he's certainly not going to get BETTER...unless he's a top 3-5 all time SS...better than Yount. 2-I think he's improved dramatically though not this dramatically, but I also think the Angels weren't using him correctly, and he had some injury problems. I still find the idea of Greinke scouting the players he was going to get traded for kinda funny if that's true. 3-I won't rule it out. I just can't anymore. And mainly it's because I've gotten off my high horse and realized I'd take HGH, whatever if the difference was toiling around in the minor leagues or getting a break and busting out in the big leagues. I don't believe it either, but it's possible. At this point, I stand by my opening post. Wait until after this year and see where you're at. If he continues to hit like this, then you pay. 8 years 55 million, 3 years of FA in there, team options for 12.5 per year and a 6 million dollar buyout.

I didn't mean to imply Arrieta and Strop for Yo. Just that this move makes it less likely the O's would have interest in Gallardo. Yeah, I thought that was pretty obvious. Though I don't know if the O's are exactly set with starting pitching if they want to be a serious contender in the post-season. Love their lineup, defense. I could see the Brewers packaging Weeks and Gallardo to Baltimore(and eating some money) as long as Weeks continues to hit as well as he has as of late. That'd really fill in their IF> Weiters, Crush, Weeks, Hardy, Machado and a pretty nice OF. Not likely to happen, but I have little faith in McClouth keeping it up and even if he does, they have no DH. Just another good matchup club. The fans will come back, so dump every penny of salary that you can, build up a reserve like the Packers did/do and after a couple lean seasons, top 5-10 picks, and young talent and...hey...maybe we're back sooner than expected.

I wouldn't want either of the pitchers they got in this deal. Arrieta's 27 and has gotten progressively worse. He hardly classifies as a prospect anymore. This entire deal was about getting more money to spend on one specific international player the Cubs have their sights set on. It's a good deal from Baltimore's perspective. They get a rotation piece without giving up much in the way of talent. That's pretty short sighted to me. While it's unlikely that he's ever going to turn it around, sometimes it takes power arms a little while to develop. Especially since the Cubs received slot money, I'd GLADLY take a chance on a former top prospect who can throw in the mid 90's. I don't know what you'd really expect for what the Cubs gave up. Feldman wasn't much better before this year than Arrietta and had a whole heckuva lot less upside. And when you say, "I wouldn't want," I assume you mean the Brewers.....a team not exactly flush with starting pitching right now. Sometimes you just have to just try to flat out get lucky. There are a couple players every year like Arrieta who thrive after struggling early in their career. In FACT, I distinctly remember you bemoaning the JJ Hardy for Carlos Gomez trade over the first few years of Gomez' tenure in Milwaukee because of consistent struggles in Minnesota and Milwaukee. The list of pitchers would be a mile longer.

Why? How could you justify him over the 9 players ahead in WAR, specifically the 4 or 5 who are on competing teams? So should we now replace "MVP," with "Season WAR leader on a good enough team that deserves to have the MV....errr..."WAR," leader on it? And a lot of these guys are so close in WAR you have to look a little bit deeper than that. How many people had AZ leading their division halfway through the year? I think he's certainly credible.

Simple. Who would you give up more for. Carlos Gomez or Aoki? 3 more years of team control. 1 more year. More power, speed, defense, better arm...great contract. Trade Aoki if you can, but as much as I'd hate to see him go, Gomez is going to bring a lot more in return. So...that's why. We led the league in runs, HR's, and SB's last year AND we got incredible pitching for prolonged periods from starters like Fiers, Peralta, Rogers, Estrada that wasn't expected and we were still a terrible team before a fluke run latter in the year.

I hardly think anyone needs to "look for a reason" not to trade the leading MLB player in WAR who is signed for the next 3+ years for a reasonable deal and whose trade value may be stunted a bit by the fact that he is somewhat of a recent emergence. A .580 OPS isn't going to be average anywhere in the outfield, in center or the corners. Obviously I expect him to do better, but unless you're looking at a 5 year rebuild, there's no recent to rush Gomez out of town for a player who may or may not even project as a starter in CF. I'm all about doing something, and I've said as much before. But some people want to trade Gomez for whatever haul he can land now without even consideration to whether that return is of equal value, just to get something. That's not the answer. There are other answers, and I would look to shop Aoki for the right deal before Gomez. Is this really coming from the same person who said that we needed to "wait on Segura to get a larger sample size," and "not go nuts over a couple months," when I started a thread about extending him using Schafer's OPS through fewer AB's than Segura had at the time I suggested we re-sigh him(shortly before it came out that we had in fact made an offer to re-sign him)? Now on the flip side, we'd making a decision on 127 AB's, many of which have come without regular playing time? This is of course ignoring the Brewers opinion of Schafer, which at least publicly has been nothing short of glowing. And I don't know who suggested we should "trade Gomez for whatever haul he can land now without even consideration to whether that return is of equal value just to get something?" Yeah, trade Aoki. He's got 1 year left after this one and is a very nice player. Gomez is performing like a franchise type player and as such, I'd entertain the idea of trading him if we could get a big return for him. Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't you been one of the people who's been a huge critic of Melvin being RE-active as opposed to PRO-active? He's got a chance to have a 8 WAR season this year. It's also likely that he never has another season like that again. So if you can get 2-3-4 young top prospects, particularly pitching prospects in return for him now, I don't think that's suggesting we "trade Gomez without even consideration to whether that return is of equal value just to get something." I don't know if we can get Skaggs, Bradley, Bundy, Tavaras or if GM's are going to be a little skiddish and the teams in contention simply have the need for a CF'er with Gomez' skill set Hence the title "shopping him." Not trading him. Shopping him. Totally different conversation than trying to move Weeks...but perhaps I missed the part where it was suggested we should just blindly decide to trade him without worrying about what we get back in return.

I obviously say this in jest, but what planet do you come from? Because the Brewers would be lucky to get Skaggs for that return much less another top-25 pitching prospect. Archie Bradley and Tyler Skaggs alone are more valuable comodities than Carlos Gomez is by himself. There are like 10 starters in MILB that project to be a high number two or actual number one; and those are two of them. So you mean to tell me that each of those pitching prospects have more value than the player who on pace to put up a WAR of ~8 with 3.5 cheap years left on his contract, plus a reliever who's been generally dominant this year when they have several young pitching prospects? I'd ask what world you live in in which BOTH of those players ALONE are more valuable than Gomez. Especially given the organization they play for. I'm going to assume you'd have asked what planet I come from if I'd suggested the trade the D-backs made in moving Trevor Bauer last year for what they got in return, a higher rated prospect in a much more talented prospect group(looking at the players rated ahead of him last year such as Machado, Profar, Trout among others). It ALSO depends on what team you're trading him to. The D-backs right now have a staff absolutely loaded in talent. Ian Kennedy their veteran at 28, Cahill at 25, Wade Miley at 26, Corbin and Delgado at 23. In any event, if you're going to give up Gomez, obviously your ask is going to be VERY high, and I don't think having Eaton a guy struggling a great deal right now in the minors and unproven in the big leagues would be a big obstacle to in terms of not wanting Gomez so he doesn't get blocked. Gomez could always move over, or Eaton could. Though I think Eaton and his impact on the D-backs this year is greatly exaggerated. Three OF spots helps that problem a lot and the Rays OF defense has benefited a great deal from it's OF speed. Especially if this is a year that Arizona believes they could make a run in the post-season. Plus Axford save for the first four games of the season has looked every bit the role of a shutdown closer this season. And again, it's a starting point. I guess it'd depend as always on what teams are interested and what team scouts have to say. I'm just throwing out some of the D-backs top prospects. I have no idea what the actual scouts think about Bradley or Skaggs for that matter. Not to mention there's still a while to go until the trading deadline and players values can fluctuate a great deal from not until then. Axford keeps pitching like he's been pitching and he could be very attractive to a team like the D-backs in particular.

This is the kind of logic I am bringing to the idea of trading away Gomez. Span/Revere got Pitching prospects being less of the player Gomez is. If you follow the logic what those two got back in trade, suggesting Archie Bradley for Gomez heads up seems like a deal that could happen. Having Archie Bradley headline our staff with Schafer in CF. What is better? Gomez and our #5 or Bradley with Schafer@CF? Edit adding: I guess the way to look at it is as Brewer Fans, with our SP farm raising we look at an Ace in the Making like Bradley and think that's a once in a decade find! No way should our team ever trade him away for anybody. Meanwhile Arizona raises/or trades then raises SPs like it's a cant miss skill. Losing a guy like Bradley shouldn't hurt as much since they should feel confident they'll just create another opportunity to replace him with another Ace in a year or two. Probably by trading Gomez in the 2015/16Offseason. And letting some other team deal with extension talks/QO decisions. I guess if it's Gomez for one single pitching prospect who ISN'T a "can't miss," at this point, I'd hold onto him personally. I'd prefer more margin for error and if the D-backs would say no to a cost controlled player like Gomez through 2016 for "just," Bradley, I wouldn't do it. But I believe if he keeps on playing the level he has been, I think it's possible we could get more in return than a Bradley.

That's a good point. Maybe all of this bad luck is actually going to end up being a blessing in disguise for the Brewers. The team is likely to plummet in the standings with Braun and Gomez out for a while. The drop in record could force Attanasio and Melvin to sell. For the short term it might suck and be difficult to watch, but for the future it could pay off big time. I'd rather the Brewers suck for the next 3 years if it means returning to being a contender soon. Gomez is probably the team's best trading chip not named Segura or Braun. I think that Gomez could bring back an elite prospect plus 2 more decent prospects. Different combos of Axford/Henderson/Rodriguez could bring back a good prospect. Gallardo and Aoki could bring back good prospects. A-Ram could bring back someone. Those trades could jump start the farm sytem and reduce the waiting period until the team is a contender. Depending on who we get I would expect a good team by 2016. Too all the Milwaukee Bucks fans out there....and nobody considers themselves a big bucks fan anymore(well, few do) please GOD let this be the route this franchise takes. Toiling around in mediocrity is the worst place to be in sports. Even teams like the D-backs have had these extremely quick turnarounds based in large part on their ability to get young pitching to the bigs. But I honestly believe the Brewers would have spent significantly more money this year on their payroll if there was anyone out there to spend it on without going nuts like for Greinke. And I don't WANT to trade Gomez. I love the guy. I'm just trying to stand back, look at this team and look at who you could get difference making prospects for and I don't see a whole lot. -Braun-Yeah, he'd bring back a haul, but if you're going to trade him, trade him when he's healthy and this suspension isn't hanging over his head. Segura and Lucroy are out of the question and Peralta just wouldn't be in demand. After that, Gallardo I think could bring back some very nice pieces. Lohse I think if he can put together a few more good starts could at least be off the books(thus saving their money to sign international players or extending Segura or just spending it for the future). Relievers unless you're talking dominant all-star closers might bring back some interesting prospects, but nothing of immediate significance. But Aoki I think could bring you back a top 50 prospects to a team really looking for a well rounded leadoff hitter on a team that doesn't need 40 HR's from RF...AND Gomez could bring a ton back. AND the 3 year number you use is the whole reason for me thinking now might be the time to move Gomez. He's under our control for 3.5 more years. So what...as soon as we're contenders again, Gomez is looking for his one big payday and he's gone anyway? I think a team would see the value in 3.5 years of him if they're a contender right now. By the way Rickie's playing, he might have his value back up to the point where we get some teams 10th best prospect and don't even have to give them any cash in return, but again, even as my other favorite Brewer, time to turn the page there to. Of course...at the moment we're missing the leagues most valuable player according to WAR, an MVP LF'er, a 30 HR 1st basemen(And have an OPS under .500 from that position), our cleanup hitter has been battling knee injuries and is a second half player, and it's POSSIBLE that Johnny Hellweg, Jimmy Nelson, and Wily Peralta can step up like some of those D-backs pitchers have for them and our outlook isn't so dire. I just think we all realize how unlikely that is. Just look at what we got for 2.5 months of Greinke. A potential MVP caliber SS in Segura, two guys who can hit the upper 90's starting in AA and AAA ball with ERA's under 3.00. I have no problem with Gindl and Shafer in the OF, Gennett and Bianchi at 3rd base, Wooten and guys like that taking over for Ax, Henderson, K-Rod in the pen and fielding a team that's almost Astro's like for a short period of time. Edit-Full disclosure, I was 100 pct behind rebuilding(more reloading at the time, but still) a couple years ago and was disgusted when they traded Brett Lawrie for a soft tossing, injury prone Shawn Marcum....at least until they went out and got Grienke who I thought and still think has as much talent as just about any pitcher in the game and was proven wrong in the short term...so...). Most would say I was wrong then wanting to move Hart, Weeks, and players like that at the time given the fact we were two games away from the WS. But our core's a few years older and most expensive and looking at our DL, obviously not as reliable. Waiting to rebuild another 2-3 years could just mean we waste Braun, Segura and Lucroy's prime years and team controlled years.

He's one of my favorite Brewers to watch. Seemed like he just loved the game like Carlos Gomez....always laughing, screwing around and I know RBI's aren't a real telling stat, but he did find a way to get that run in from 3rd almost every time.

Yeah, his entire career has been pretty brilliant! But I get what you're saying. When his change has that movement and he can throw the slider for strikes, his 92 MPH fastball on the outside corner is a beast to hit. Last year he had streaks of greatness and then a couple blowup's, but his FIP and xFIP was still below 4.00 last year. He strikes me as the type of guy who's going to play for 6 different teams in the next 4 years because teams are always looking for BP help, and he's got two other plus pitches in case his fastball isn't working. But teams like the...Royals or Brewers will be the most likely to sign him as that late inning veteran. And Octovial Dotel type......and then as injuries arise to contenders, he'll be moved.

I'm with you. You'll notice I was on the same page with you regarding K-Rod. He didn't even have that bad of a year last year and he's been good pretty much every other year of his career prior to that, so 2 million for him was a great signing. Of course you STILL will have people who will SEARCH for a way to bash Melvin and can't just admit it was a good, sound baseball move(ie, the comment prior to this thread about keeping a player who's signed for ONE year because Melvin might think he can help him win next year). He's made 17 appearances I believe and he has allowed a run ONCE. Sorry Paul, you're grasping at straws here.

15 of 17? LOL come on now, how is that even realistic at this point? By only losing 2 games in their next 17? I don't know, how realistic is it almost every single year when a team goes on a similar type run? I'm sure the Blue Jays fans would have said the exact same thing in the same tone two weeks ago.

This is just amusing. How in the world can we conclude they're having a good draft right now? Because they got a LHP'er and you really wanted the Brewers to sign one? There is a TON of revisionist history in this thread regarding the Brewers aiming for low ceiling pitchers starting with both Jungman and Bradley, both of whom were projected to be top 10 picks and the later of which was at one point thought of as a potential top 3 pick. The drafting of Nelson was relentlessly bashed because someone mentioned the name Jeff Suppan and so on..... The same goes for offensive players. Coulter, Roache, Taylor and on and on. We seem to forget the scouting departments success and focus(almost exclusively in this thread) on their failures and now we're anointing this draft and these picks failures as soon as we call their names(general reference, not directed towards you Crew07). Reading this thread, you'd really think we're the LA Clippers(before the Chris Paul era) of MLB.

The off-season works as well. It'd give opposing GM's a larger sample size, but there are also teams that are in contention and in win now modes that MIGHT be willing to give up a lot for him. Arizona has done such a good job assembling young arms while putting a competitive team on the field that they just struck me as a team that could really use him. As for them not needing a CF'er, Eaton is the 73rd prospect according to BA, but he's a light hitting speedster. Pollack I don't think would really be much of a consideration. And again, I'm just hoping that they see an opening and try to go for it right NOW. Heck, Eaton could be part of the deal back. Skaggs+Bradley+Eaton for Gomez+Axford+some cash going back to ARZ. I don't know just throwing things out there. I think it's something worth considering given just how far away this team is right now. Trade Gomez, K-Rod/Henderson/Axford, perhaps Aoki...eat some cash and maybe move Aram and Weeks(provided they're hitting better as the trade deadline nears) and we can put that money into the international pool, get a boatload of prospects back, and we'd likely be in position to grab a top 5 player in next years draft(we may well either way).

1-Because his value(before he just got injured) is extraordinarily high and he could single handedly bring back several elite prospects while we rebuild. These guys DON'T grow on trees. But if a team, and the one I used was Arizona because they're in playoff contention is interested, they're young, they're a smaller market team and Gomez has a very good contract, and they have a LOT of pitching, but could really use a bat like Gomez. If they're interested they could give you a kings ransom for him. Again, Tyler Skaggs, Archie Bradley, Zeke Spruill...three pretty good reasons. But there is another reason. He's already had a career year according to WAR. The whole sell high concept the Brewers have yet to master. I think Gomez is most likely a .280/.310 hitter who can hit 20-25 HR's and play great defense and even at that his contract is a steal. I get not wanting to trade him, but not being able to find one reason to trade him? The guy is my favorite Brewer to watch, but I just so desperately want to see this team have a top 5 farm system again, and right now they may have a bottom 2-3 farm system. I believe we can spend more money than we are and I believe we'll continue to receive more money from all the big TV contracts, luxury tax..ect...ect...but nowhere near enough to buy a winner. I guess it comes down to this. Do you believe that the Brewers can be a legitimate contender for a World Series or even the playoffs with the farm system and even a few shrewd trades and FA signings over the next 3 years when our needle is pointing straight down right now? If so, then you don't trade him. If not, then bit the bullet and do what's best for the Brewers for the next decade.