Madhawk23

I'm sure this has been discussed somewhere on this board in recent weeks, but can someone remind me what the deal is with JD Thompson and why he hasn't pitched in a game yet this spring? Clearly must be dealing with some type of an injury, but do we know what that is? **Nevermind** Just saw the earlier post that he's dealing with a hamstring injury and should be back later this month. Clearly I need to do a better job of reading through this thread before posting!

I'm sure he's been discussed somewhere else on this site (so I apologize), but can someone tell me a bit more about Andrew Healy? Looks like we drafted him in the 9th rd last year? Is this someone that might have some potential still?

Don't disagree with you here, and while I know this will probably never happen (since we're going to want 1-2 MLB ready type prospects if we traded Megill right now), I'd absolutely be OK trading Megill for a few lower-level prospects with some upside/potential that are a few years away from sniffing the big leagues. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to add more prospects to that next "wave" of guys currently in the ACL or Low A ball. Generally speaking, I don't trust relievers that much year-to-year so I think its best to trade them when their value is high. As I said earlier though, I do wonder if his September flexor strained would scare most teams off from making a trade for him right now anyway? We might actually better holding him right now and perhaps trading him at the deadline this summer (although that obviously gets very tricky if we're a buyer and not a seller at the deadline).

Any chance we could strike up the trade machine again with Stearns and the Mets and get Baty? What would we have to add with Megill to even get them interested?

Now that the Freddy trade has been consummated, my attention naturally goes to Megill. Yes, he has two years of team control (and fairly cheap control for his production as a late-inning reliever), but with our pitching depth and the emergence of Abner last year, I wouldn't necessarily hate it if we tried to sell Megill when his value might be at its highest? I am a bit worried about that flexor strain he came down with late in the season though and I'm sure other GM's would have some concern with that as well - which might drop his value just a bit?? Thoughts on a potential Megill trade before the start of the season? And if so - are there any natural trade partners that need some late inning relief help yet this offseason?

I threw this out in a separate thread, but I'd absolutely try to engage the Red Sox for someone like Wilyer Abreu. As already noted, they have a surplus of OF's right now and Abreu would certainly appear to be a good match for us. Gold glove caliber OF with pop and is cost-controlled for a number of years. The package I threw out was Megill, Pratt and Letson for Wilyer. But, the more I think about this - the more that I'm now realizing that this is probably too light of a package. So, it might take something like Megill, Pena and Letson? I guess it would depend on how "high" the Sox FO is with Pratt, as there are obviously some huge concerns there if he's ever going to be able to hit enough?

Yeah, I can't imagine that we're going to be in the running for either Littel or Bassit. Feels like it's either going to be bringing Quintana back on a similar deal that we gave him last year or we take a flyer on Montgomery (since we had several months to build a relationship with him last summer). That would also help fill the lefty void we currently have in our rotation. Personally I'd rather we take a shot on Montgomery over Q. Just feels like there's more potential upside with him if he can get back to his pre-'24 performance now that's he's beyond his second TJ. I know there's risk there, but we could also take our time with him and hope for maybe a June/July return - as we should be more than covered with all of our SP depth.

Since we traded for Montgomery at the deadline last summer (knowing he wouldn't throw a pitch last year), it's felt inevitable that we'd sign him to a 1-year incentive laden deal for '26. A bit surprised that this hasn't happened yet, but I'd definitely be interested in taking a flyer on him and hoping that he's healthy and can give us some quality starts.

I fully realize that I'm jumping the gun here as we aren't going to trade William before the start of this season, but I think we all know that the day is coming sooner rather than later. If we're competitive this summer (which I still believe we will be), then we'll be looking to trade him next winter (or whenever the lockout concludes). If for some reason we aren't competitive this summer, then we might already start to talk trades with teams at the deadline this July? In looking at everyone's crystal balls here, are there some teams that we think might be good trade partners for William over the next 12 months? After doing some very quick research, here are some teams that currently could use an upgrade behind the plate (could obviously change over next 12 months though): Angels Rangers Padres Marlins Are there some notable omissions here with this list? I'm sure I might be missing a team or two, and things can obviously change drastically over the next 12 months - but I was hoping the list would be more extensive than it is. There were some other teams where I'm sure that William would be an upgrade over their current catcher, but it would be more of a marginal improvement. You've also got some teams that probably aren't going to be super competitive over the next couple of years, so I didn't include them either. Even including the Marlins is a bit questionable as I'm not sure if they're going to be looking at a winning "window" yet over these next couple of years? Needless to say....we need William to have a huge year for us this year. First and foremost, that'll help us have a more successful team on the field, but it should also help inflate his trade value even more than it is right now.

I know there's been a lot of talk about Duran this winter from the Red Sox (and he seems to be a polarizing player in many people's eyes), but is there any chance we could instead engage with the Red Sox on Wilyer instead? Sounds like he's a good defensive RF (which we would love) and he's got some pop in that bat (which we so desperately need). What would it take to get a deal done for him? Megill, Pratt and Letson? Would the Red Sox consider dealing him instead of Duran? We have the deepest farm system in baseball right now, so we wouldn't have to sacrifice our future if we traded away a couple of our prospects (at positions with a lot of depth) to get a power OF bat that could help us in the immediate and in the future (Wilyer is controllable for several years). Thoughts? Is this a complete pipe dream?

No, I get it completely! Was just giving you a hard time! 😉

I hope that's the point we're at here. Now that we're getting into late January, I think it's about that time. I just hope that Arnold doesn't fold here and take less than what we require for Freddy to get a deal done. If the worst case scenario is we get Freddy for his final season in a Brewers uniform and a Comp pick when he leaves next winter, then I'm definitely on board with that - instead of settling for a lesser package of prospects. Get as much as you can Arnold, or don't trade him.

If you're dealing with the Yankees, I think either Elmer Rodriguez or Carlos Lagrange has to be coming back as the headliner in the deal. Beyond that, I guess I'm not sure what I'd be asking for if you're Arnold? Do you want to try to get another MLB ready pitcher like Will Warren or Ryan Weathers? Do you see if they'll include Dominguez in the package (not sure how much I'm in love with him either?)? Do you try to get them to include their young SS prospect Kilby that appears to have a lot of helium right now?

If Stearns isn't willing to include Tong and also isn't willing to do a Williams/Sproat package - then I'm going back to him and asking for Baty & Sproat for Freddy. If that's still a hard "NO" from DS, then yeah - I'm moving on from the Mets and exploring trade packages with other teams.

Prepare to be disappointed then! Murray was also the guy that used the word "significant" to initially describe the return that the Brewers were going to get from San Francisco back in July '19 when we sent Mauricio Duban. Minutes later we found out that the return was Drew Pomeranz and his 5+ ERA. Now, we all know that Pomeranz ended up pitching great for us the rest of that season so maybe Murray has some magical powers to look into the future, but at the time of the deal - getting Pomeranz back was anything but significant.

Spencer jones is an extremely volatile profile, so I would not want him being the centerpiece coming back in a Freddy trade. A ton of risk there that he's never not going to swing and miss too much at the MLB level. If our development staff felt as if they could tweak some things with his swing to alleviate some of the concerns, then he might be worth taking a flyer on. But I definitely would need someone like Lagrange included as the centerpiece.

How is Freeland only a 5.7 value while Sirota is a 21.4? That makes no sense to me. And, no…..can’t imagine there’s any chance LA is giving up that much for Freddy. I think we’d be fortunate to get Ryan and then either Freeland OR Sirota. Very little chance we’re getting all three.

Can’t see LA giving us both Sheehan and DePaula. There’s a real chance Sheehan might be off the table to begin with, so no shot they’d also throw in their top prospect (borderline top 10 prospect in baseball) for one year of Freddy. Best case would be Sheehan and Sirota, which I’d sign up for in a heartbeat (which likely means LA wouldn’t!).

Let’s force them to give us Sheehan and then we’ll “settle” for the 4th best OF prospect in their system - Sirota! 😜

To follow up on the Padres talk....I think the only way I'm accepting a deal with them (if I'm Arnold) is if they are OK doing a complete overpay for Freddy. I'd be asking for: Randy Vazquez - honestly, not a huge fan of his profile, but you know Arnold is going to want at least one MLB arm in return Kruz Schoolcraft - he'd be the headliner in the deal, but still several years away Miguel Mendez #4 ranked prospect in their system according to BA and could be set to make his MLB debut at some point this upcoming season - or in '27 Honestly, the more I look at a package like this, the more I might be OK with it? Vazquez could go instantly into our rotation and be mid-back end starter. Mendez probably starts the year in Biloxi and joins that next "wave" of pitchers in our system (Hardin, Letson, Crow, etc.). Schoolcraft becomes yet another Top 100 prospect in our system from day 1 and gives us a real high ceiling lefty arm. Preller might just be crazy enough to make a deal like this too....so I guess you never know!

I agree with you that I just can't imagine that either of these packages is even remotely close to what we'd be looking for in exchange for Freddy. Kyle Hart appears to be a journeyman pitcher that has spent the majority of his pro career putting up blah results in the minor leagues. Carlos Alvarez is an 18 year old lotto ticket with major volatility to his profile. Jagger Haynes is ranked #11 in their system with a back-of-rotation ceiling. Victor Lizarraga is ranked #30 in their system with a #5 pitcher ceiling if he makes it. And Lamar King is ranked #14 in their system with a backup catcher ceiling. So...yeah, a big "NO THANKS" on either of these two packages being suggested by GROK!

IF that's all we could get for BOTH Peralta and either Koenig/Megill, then you don't make the trade at all. I would argue that Peralta alone should get a bit more than Sproat and Baty....so no chance in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks I'm also including either Koenig or Megill into that trade as well!

With the Red Sox signing Ranger Suarez, I've got to guess that they're out on trading for Freddy now, right? Crochet, Gray, Bello, Suarez and a bunch of other younger guys (Tolle, Early, Oviedo, etc.). Hopefully with Suarez off the market now that only intensifies other teams' pursuit of Freddy and maybe will force a team to up their current offer a bit to get a deal done? I guess we can hope! Maybe the O's?

The thing to keep in mind with Merrill is that the Padres locked him up for 10 years at $156M through 2035. He's relatively cheap these next few years at $2M in '26, $7M in '27, $9M in '28 and $11M in '29 but then the annual salary goes up to $21M per year for the next six years after that. It'll still be a bargain for him for those first few years at least - assuming of course he continues to build off of what he's done as a big leaguer these first couple of years. But....with us already locking up Chourio through '33 and with my assumption that we MAY also look to do the same with Made at some point over the next year or two - I'm wondering if we'd be even interested in taking on another long term contract like Merrill's.....and that of course is making a HUGE assumption that the Padres would even consider moving on from him already, which is HIGHLY unlikely.