Madhawk23

Here's the biggest issue as I see it: we are in a "win-now" window for our franchise, and it just seems a bit ludicrous to think that we are going to then trade away one of our biggest assets that has helped us win these past couple of years. Now, if we had guys that we thought were suitable replacements in the back of our pen - then I would be all-in on trying to trade Hader this winter and at least attempting to get a nice haul of players in return. But, let's say we trade Hader tomorrow: who's going to shut down games this season in the last 2-3 innings? JJ is long gone, Knebel is coming back from TJ surgery - so we have no idea what he's going to look like, and we also know that DS is never going to go out and spend a ton of money on relievers in the FA market. I've been 50/50 on this whole trade Hader talk this winter, but the more time goes along here (and the FA market dwindles), the more I think we are definitely going to be holding onto Hader for at least another year (or maybe even just a 1/2 year if we are sellers at the deadline in July).

So, can someone much smarter than me project what a Sogard/Gyorko platoon might look like in terms of production this year (assuming that they both perform up to their standards) in comparison to what we had this past year with Moose/Shaw? Maybe it's not as bad as it appears to me on the surface?

This does seem odd. It's not like the Cards have a ton of OF's to give up that would have value here, do they? I know they are high on that Carlson kid, so I guess he takes a spot out there next year. Fowler would have very little value to the Rays. So, I guess that would probably mean either O'Neill or Bader? Maybe Edman like others have suggested, but isn't he more of an IF by trade? Let's hope this isn't being done to stockpile prospects for an Arenado trade. That would be a very Cardinal type move.

Agreed! Just not sure we'd even have the assets to get their attention. I almost feel like Keston would have to be in any type of package going back, and then it hardly seems worth it (although Chapman's glove would certainly be an upgrade). I don't know, but would a package like this get them to even consider it: Luis Urias Freddy Peralta Bryce Turang Mario Felicano Then, we'd still have Sogard/Arcia to play SS this year, and we get to hold onto Keston. Again though - I doubt that this package is even enough to get the A's to listen on Chapman. Unfortunately, we just don't have the prospect assets that we had a couple of years ago when we landed Yelich. And let's face it - Chapman is probably worth more now than Yelich even was back then. For that reason - I severely doubt this would ever be realistic. And, if the A's did make him available, why wouldn't they reach out to a team like the Braves (if they lose out on Donaldson), and get a big haul of prospects from a team that actually has big-time prospects in their system?

OK - so if it is looking more and more likely that we'd have to pick up a 3B in a trade now as opposed to the F/A market - who are the top trade candidates at this stage? Bryant - never happening Arenado - intriguing, but probably highly unlikely that we'd have the prospect capital or the $$ to make this happen Justin Turner - this only becomes a possibility if the Dodgers end up getting Donaldson or make a trade for someone like Bryant K. Seager - not sure if I'm that in love with him as a target, but I'm wondering if this might be our most realistic trade option Lowrie - sounds like he's on the market, and coming off of an injury riddled year Brian Anderson - guessing it would take quite a bit for Marlins to give up on him this soon, especially after we fleeced them in Yeli deal Dozier - saw his name mentioned above, so including him here Chapman - can't even imagine the haul that the A's would demand to part ways with him this soon, so doubt he's a realistic option Who else would you add to this list? Seems like there are a few more teams that are going to try to compete this year than the past few, so not a ton of trading partner options out there.

Hader for Austin Riley, Kyle Muller/Bryse Wilson, and Patrick Weigel would interest me. Riley locks down the 3B for the next 6 years. Muller and Wilson are both mid-rotation profile pitchers that can add to our depth this year between AAA/MLB and could take a rotation spot in 2021. Weigel is a wild card who's stuff has played up well as a RP in the minors and could impact our BP as soon as this year. Can touch upper 90's with both a slider and changeup. Brewers also drafted him in 2014. Interesting proposal and possible a realistic return for Hader. Here's what I'd prefer as a return for Hader from the Braves -3B Austin Riley -RHP Kyle Wright (I prefer him over Bryce Wilson) -LHP Kyle Muller -RP Weigel or perferably Touki Touissant I have a funny feeling Touissant could be redefined as a dominant back of the bullpen arm as his career moves forward. If the Braves sign Donaldson, this proposal makes a ton of sense for them, as Riley and Wright are MLB ready and ATL wouldn't really have starting spots for them. A couple of questions on this proposal: Are the Braves still even in the market for another RP? I know they signed Will Smith early in the winter, and I want to say they nabbed another reliever off the market around that same time. While I would love to get some of their prospects for Hader, I'm curious if that's even a need for them? How is Austin Riley's defense considered at 3B? I don't quite understand all of the defensive metrics in baseball, so curious if someone else can fill me in. I too would be all over a trade like this, but I think the fact that I like it so much - probably means that the Braves would never give up this much for a reliever (even one as good as Josh).

Yeah, it's crazy to look back at that Top 10 now and realize just how much that group was over-valued at the time. It also makes you realize (not that we really needed a reminder on this) again how volatile prospects are. Yes, some will pan out, but many (if not most) won't ever live up to our inflated expectations are for them. You have to wonder if Stearns knew that some of these guys were over-hyped, which made it easier to include them in the trades that sent them packing to other teams? We'll probably never know the full truth on that though.

I agree. I don't want him to be our everyday third baseman. I very much prefer him as a reserve player, but a couple starts a week would be just fine (filling in at 3B, 2B, and SS). I would much rather we go after a higher upside third baseman. I would love to get Donaldson (pipe dream), but someone like Kyle Seager would probably be more realistic. Let's also keep in mind that Sogard is a guy that the Cubs apparently wanted pretty badly at the deadline last July, and again this winter. I know we have to hope with all hope that he can be the '19 version and not the '18 version, but if he is - then he all of a sudden could be a really valuable utility guy. And, a significant improvement over Hernan.

I agree. I don't want him to be our everyday third baseman. I very much prefer him as a reserve player, but a couple starts a week would be just fine (filling in at 3B, 2B, and SS). I would much rather we go after a higher upside third baseman. I would love to get Donaldson (pipe dream), but someone like Kyle Seager would probably be more realistic. Let's also keep in mind that Sogard is a guy that the Cubs apparently wanted pretty badly at the deadline last July, and again this winter. I know we have to hope with all hope that he can be the '19 version and not the '18 version, but if he is - then he all of a sudden could be a really valuable utility guy. And, a significant improvement over Hernan.

I love Keston as much as the next guy, but Chapman is a 2-time gold glove winner (in just 2.5 seasons thus far), has 16+ career WAR already (at least according to Baseball Reference), career .841 OPS and has finished in the Top 10 of the AL MVP voting each of the past two years. And, he's put up those offensive numbers in a pretty poor hitting environment out in Oakland. That's pretty damn good, and at least with Keston - we have some middle IF depth right now with Urias, Sogard and Arcia. Obviously, you'd be banking on Urias living up to his potential though and being a really solid 2B over the next 5-6 years.

If Sogard starts two games a week, that is 2 games too many... I'm not a Sogard fan either, but this comment is just hating on someone to hate on someone. Championship teams still have role players like Sogard, and if he produce like he did last year, it makes this comment look even worse. This is kind of how I see it as well. We're clearly banking on the '19 Sogard with this deal, and if he's anywhere close to that - then we've got a really good utility IF that can play three spots on the IF. We have no idea how Urias will perform in year 2 in the big leagues, so having some insurance there with a vet like Sogard is a good plan. Is 4.5M a bit higher than I would have liked paying Sogard? Yes. But, I also look at this as a really good depth move. Now, as others have said - if Sogard ends up getting the majority of the playing time at 3B, then we might be in trouble.

OK - so I know that there are zero rumors about this guy being available, but what would it take the A's to part ways with Matt Chapman? I'm sure it would have to start with Hiura, but with our pickup of Urias - we do have some middle infield depth now that would soften that blow. Would a Hiura/Peralta/Turang type offer even get them to consider moving Chapman? Or, does Urias still have enough value to try to move him over there in a Urias/Peralta/Ashby/Feliciano type deal. I hate to give up Hiura, as his bat could be just as good (if not better) than Chapman. But, Chapman is the full package with the bat and the glove. Again, a real pipe dream to even think the A's would consider trading him at this point. But, DS likes to do things outside the box - so this had me doing just that.

But, with all of our current OF depth (Yeli, Cain, Garcia, Braun, Gamel), I don't think we would have had the need to have our 1B filling any innings in the OF this year.

I think you forgot Houser. But, in general I would be absolutely on board with your plan here. I don't know why - but I still have this gut feeling that we've got at least one "big" move coming this offseason. Signing Ryu at that price would certainly qualify for that. I know it's not in DS's MO to spend a lot on a SP, so I'm guessing he'll never do that, but I guess we can dream.

Am I off base in saying that any deal for Ramirez would probably have to start with Hiura+? And, I'm sure that would be a deal breaker for Stearns. Ramirez is controlled for 4 more years at a relatively cheap price (for a guy of his ability). Not sure if the Indians would have much motivation to move him at this point. If Hiura was off the table, I'm guessing we'd have to package Urias, Small and Feliciano. And honestly, I'm not even convinced that would be nearly enough to get Ramirez. Unfortunately, our farm system is just so bad right now that it makes it nearly impossible to put together trade offers for guys of this stature.

To me it almost seems logical that we bring back Thames and platoon him with Braun at 1B. I actually think that would be a pretty solid platoon - similar to what we had with Thames and Aggie. The fact of the matter is - Thames put up better numbers than many of the remaining 1B on the market right now (i.e. Cron, Smoak, etc.), so we might as well make a run at bringing him back at a bit of a cheaper price than what we would have had to pay him under his old deal.

I like your Thames idea, as I've been thinking the same thing - would be a great platoon option with Braun at 1B. However, I cannot imagine the Dodgers ever doing that trade for Knebel. Nobody knows how healthy Knebel will be this season, and it's already being reported that he likely won't be back until May sometime (and that might be the earliest). And, even a healthy Knebel wouldn't be able to bring back Turner and Seager. In fact, I doubt a healthy Knebel could even bring back one of those guys. Erceg is basically a non-prospect at this point - so adding him into the deal isn't going to help at all.

I know the Mets would probably love to find a taker for the Lowrie and Familia (especially) contracts, but I've got to imagine that they would still say "no" to this deal. Giving up Smith and Davis in this deal feels like it's too much from their side, but maybe others will disagree.

Yeah, that concerns me as well. I realize this happened awhile ago now - and hopefully Garcia has grown up and matured a lot since then, but that's just not something you can easily overlook.

The past (alleged) clubhouse issues might scare me the most with this guy. I guess he did play with the Rays last year, and must not have caused many issues as that team went to the ALDS. But, you would hate to see a cancer come into this clubhouse and send this team down the wrong path. I supposed that could come from just about any signing though.

Anyone see Bernie Pleskoff's tweets just now. He's clearly not a fan of Garcia - mentioning that his knees/hamstrings aren't good, and also alluding to some of the clubhouse issues with him in the past. Really is questioning if this is the right move for the Brewers. Boy, I hope DS is doing all of his home work with this signing.

Boy, can this deal just get done already! Have we ever had to wait this long from when a deal was rumored as being "almost done" to when we actually got confirmation that it was completed?

A Donaldson signing would instantly get the entire fanbase excited for the 2020 season. We also desperately need to find a 3B for the next few years, as we don't have a single one coming up through our system that will be knocking on the door anytime soon. We are also sitting on a lot of free payroll space right now. I'm sure that I'll be wrong, but I just have this gut feel that we make a run at him. If not Donaldson, then I think DS has something else up his sleeve here to add a big, middle of the order bat to this lineup.

I think the bigger question is: how much value are you getting from that 25M per year contract in years 3 and 4? That's a contract that could hamstring us big time if Donaldson is a shell of himself in '22 and '23. With that said though - I would love to find a way to make a 3 year deal work with him. Not sure if he'd accept that - if he's getting 4 year offers from other teams? But, having him in the middle of the order protecting Yeli for at least the next couple of years (assuming we could keep him healthy) could be huge. And, we really need another big bat in this lineup.

Is this what the projections are for Anderson? If so, I think I'd pass then. It's crazy to me how much more some of these marginal players are getting on the market this winter - as opposed to what we saw the past two winters. I guess I would hoping we could get him more in the 2/14M range, but I'm guessing the 2/20M is probably closer to being accurate.