Madhawk23

If that's all that we could get in a deal for Braun, then you absolutely don't trade the guy. Take your chances that he has a big 1st half this next year and try to deal him at the deadline. No way would I pull the trigger on a package consisting of Shaw/Ockimey/Raudes. I would need at least Devers/Raudes coming back in return, and might even ask for Cosart in the deal as well. As I mentioned above, (and I know it's not my team or my money) I'd be perfectly fine taking back a bad contract like Sandoval or eating some of Braun's money if it means getting back more in return here. Outside of maybe Thornburg, he's our last big trade chip left in this rebuild, and I think we need to do our best to maximize it.

If this is the case, then why would the Dodgers go after Braun this offseason if they can just go out and sign someone like Cespedes instead? This really makes me wonder if we might have to wait well into the winter before anything actually happens with Braun? Teams might want to see if they can fill their offensive needs through some of the limited F/A market before trading away their prospects for someone like Braun.

I know there are a lot of "what if's" here, but what if Braun did waive his no-trade clause to Boston, and there was interest on the Red Sox's part to work out a deal to get Braun. Would it help at all for the Brewers to take on a contract like Pablo Sandavol, in order to get a better grouping of prospects in return? If we took the Panda off of their hands, would it be reasonable to then get a package of Devers, Kopech and someone like Cosart? I realize we wouldn't want a guy like Pablo on our team, but if it helps to get a better prospect return (see Puig in the LA deal), would it be worth it to go down this road?

Not to toot my own horn, but every single one of those questions were mine! Ha. Usually when I submit questions to those prospect chats, I don't get a single one answered. So, I was shocked to see him answer every single one of my questions this afternoon.

I couldn't agree with you more. In my opinion, there is no way that DS is trading Ryan Braun right now unless we are getting at least one top prospect back in return in the deal. He's absolutely one of the best hitters in baseball still, and I see no reason why he couldn't keep up a similar pace for at least a couple more years. On top of this, we were willing to take on a clubhouse cancer in Puig that the Dodgers seem desperate to rid themselves of (even with his upside), and a lot of money with McCarthy. We have no need for either one of those guys, so the only reason in my mind that we'd take them on is if we are getting at least one top prospect piece back in return. And if we aren't, then I would absolutely just hold onto Braun.

I hear you there, but what if a shoulder injury rears its ugly head again and we lose him for a significant amount of time next year? I guess that's the risk you take with any player, and I'm certainly not advocating for getting rid of Tburg already, but I just hope that we maximize his trade value - whenever that time may come. Probably worth keeping him through the deadline next year and hope that he continues this dominant run. If he does, I'd have to think that we'd be able to get a couple of really nice trade chips in return from a contending team in need of pen help.

What would Tyler be worth in the trade market this off season? He's been unbelievable impressive this year, and has flourished in his short time in the closer role since the deadline. I know he's not a F/A until 2020, so do you hold onto him until the trade deadline next summer, when the market for relievers might be through the roof again - or do you strike this off season and not risk injury (which he has had history there) or his production falling off?

Splitter - thanks for your insight. I'm sure I can speak on behalf of most on this board in saying that I'd definitely prefer getting a couple of top prospects from the Dodgers system over having Puig come back as the headliner in any deal for Braun. However, I guess I was thinking that we might have to take Puig back in the deal (as an extra piece) to make some of the dollars work - as well as to help LA rid themselves of him? If I'm Stearns, I'm telling LA "We'll take Puig off of your hands, but we also need a couple of other good prospects in return for Braun." Now, I have no idea though if that stance is going to work with LA, and maybe that is what held this thing up at the August deadline? I'm sure they still see a lot of potential in Puig and probably don't think they should have to give up much more with him in a deal for Braun. But, hopefully they come to their senses this off season and realize that Braun would be a major upgrade for their lineup and also realize that Puig has lost a lot of his trade value.

Splitter, What do you think would constitute a fair return for Braun from the Dodgers? Assuming of course that we may have to pick up a bit of the salary to get a bit more in return?

What's a reasonable expectation that we could expect back for Braun if LA does make a hard charge for him this week before the 8/31 deadline? I just find it so hard to know what type of value he has right now due to all of the baggage that he brings with him? If it weren't for the PED baggage, I'd honestly want the moon for Braun in any kind of a trade. But, obviously there is no way to hide that awful baggage that he brings with him. Is it unreasonable to expect DeLeon/Sheffield and another teenager in their system? Personally, I'd prefer to have Bellinger/DeLeon/teenager, but I realize that will never happen. Does LA consider an offer like this, or would they simply laugh Stearns off the phone?

Anyone else find it odd that he auctioned off a bunch of his baseball keepsakes, including his 3,000 ball and bat? I think I saw where he said that he was downsizing houses, and needed to get rid of a bunch of stuff. But, why would you ever get rid of your 3,000 ball and bat? Makes you wonder if he's really struggling financially and needs the money? Or, am I reading too much into this?

Is it just me, or do opposing teams seem to be hitting the ball just fine in Brevard lately. We always talk about how hard it is to have good offensive production in that ballpark, but why does it not seem to effect the opposition as much as it effects our own team?

So here's an honest question: Why wouldn't the Rockies want their AAA team in C. Springs? It's right down the street, so it would be easy on travel expenses - AND it would get their pitchers accustomed to the type of conditions that they are going to be experiencing at the big league level? To me, this makes way too much sense. What am I missing?

Yeah, this is a huge step for this franchise. I mean, who could have predicted this just 2-3 years ago when we had what was widely regarded as one of the worst farm systems in baseball. Kudos to Melvin, Stearns and their staff's for making great moves over these past two years that have gotten us to this point. Now, we need to continue to make smart moves/draft picks so that we can stay in the Top 10 and keep the pipeline open as we start to promote some of these guys to the big leagues over the next couple of years.

Now that we've gotten past the July trade deadline, what are our next moves? Will we trade guys like Torres and Boyer in August? I'm assuming we'd only get back a lower-level mid-prospect (see Malik Collymore) in return for either of those guys, but we might as well at least try to get something, right? Does anyone else have a shot to get traded in August? What are the odds of any of our bigger names (Braun, Thornburg, Carter, Guerra, Nelson) getting dealt before 8/31? I've never completely understood the August waiver deadline. I know that guys have to clear waivers before you trade them to any team, and if they are claimed by a team then you can only work with that one team on a deal. Is that right? But that teams will claim a player just to block him from being traded to another team? Also, looking ahead to the offseason - how active do you think we'll be on the trade market? I see that there is another thread specifically on Scooter and his value. Let's hope he finishes strong these final two months and continues to prove that he can hit lefties. I'd also love to see Nelson turn things around here and put together a strong final two months, which might give us some value there.

Now, if we could just figure out how to hit a baseball in that league and score a few more runs for those pitchers. I know wins/losses don't matter much in the development of these players, but it sure would be nice to score just a few runs per game for some of these exciting arms in Brevard.

Do we know when our new trade pieces will report to their respective minor league teams? I know that MLB guys will usually get to their new team the very next day, but are minor league players given longer to report? How does that work? Can we expect to see Brinson and Susac in the AAA lineup on Wednesday? I'm assuming they'll give Ortiz and Bickford an extra day or two to get acclimated before sending them out for their first starts.

I always hear how good Maldy is defensively, but is that really the case? I know he has a cannon for an arm, but he doesn't seem like a guy that's real agile around the plate or a guy that blocks balls very well. Last night was a perfect example, where he lets a ball go right underneath his glove allowing the runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd. Next batter hits a routine grounder to SS that would have been an easy GIDP, but instead a run scores. Yes, he has a great arm - but is he truly an all-around defensive catcher? I have no idea how he is at calling a game, so I'll leave that to somebody that has more data to back it up.

1. Orlando Arcia 2. Lewis Brinson 3. Josh Hader 4. Corey Ray 5. Luis Ortiz 6. Phil Bickford 7. Brett Phillips 8. Trent Clark 9. Isan Diaz 10. Cody Ponce 11. Marcos Diplan 12. Lucas Erceg 13. Gilbert Lara 14. Brandon Woodruff 15. Jacob Nottingham 16. Freddy Peralta 17. Jorge Lopez 18. Devin Williams 19. Demi Orimoloye 20. Corbin Burnes 21. Jacob Gatewood 22. Monte Harrison 23. Tyrone Taylor 24. Mario Feliciano 25. Miguel Diaz It's pretty crazy when you start to look at some of the names that didn't make the cut for a top 25 prospect list: Kirby, Coulter, Derby, Magnifico, T. Williams, Rijo, Reed, Houser, N. Walters, C. Herrera, Ventura, Supak, Roache, Cooper, Demuth, Wilkerson, Mallen, Yamamoto, Leal, Perrin, Johnny Davis, Wang, Archer, Segovia, P. Henry, McClanahan, Sibrian,

Any chance that Houston jumps in here at the last minute and makes us an offer we can't refuse: Houston gets Luc and Guerra Brewers get Reed, Musgrove, M. Sierra and Franklin Perez

Does this lower our trade leverage though if other teams know how desperate we are to trade him before the deadline today? I guess it's probably no secret to begin with that we really need to move him by 3:00 this afternoon.

Guys - this is why I'm really encouraging everyone to keep their expectations lowered here if a deal does get done today. There is no way that Texas is going to give up 5-6 of their top prospects in a deal for Luc/JJ. It just isn't happening.

There's a decent chance that I might have missed this already, but what's the story on Trent Clark? Looks like he wasn't in the lineup the past two games. Is this the injury flaring up again, or something else?

Anyone find it a bit odd that it is this quiet with just 6+ hours left on the trade deadline? I guess I expected last night and this morning to be popping with rumors, but instead we just keep hearing the same stuff that we already knew.

A few days ago, I would have been right there with you in terms of my expectations on a return for Luc/Jeffress. However, after seeing the deal that was supposed to go down with Cleveland for Lucroy, I don't think there is any way we get this type of return for both guys. If I had to guess right now, I would say that a Luc/JJ package would probably net us: Gallo, Guzman, Jurado and Morgan. I would love to swap Mendez into this deal in place of Jurado or Morgan, but I doubt that would happen. The fact that we were originally going to get a borderline Top 100 player in Mejia, and then two "OK" prospects from the Indians really tells me that the market just isn't where we all hoped it would be for Luc. So, if we were just trading him by himself to Texas, I'm guessing we'd probably get a package of Mendez, Guzman and Morgan. Throw in JJ, and that probably motivates Texas to up their offer to Gallo (even though I'd probably prefer Mendez) and then they add in someone like Jurado. Just my opinion based off of what we now know is Luc's value on the market. JJ is worth Mendez, Jurado and Payano Luc is then Gallo, Guzmann and Morgan Listen, I absolutely agree with you in that I too think that we should get this type of return for a Luc/JJ package. Hell, a few days ago I probably would have been predicting a Brinson, Mendez, Tavarez, Jurado, Guzman, Payano type haul for these two guy. But, that Indians trade really has me lowering my expectations now in terms of what I think we'd get back - even taking into consideration that we'd be adding JJ into the deal. I hope I'm wrong and you are right, but I unfortunately have my doubts right now.