Boomer5

Bayless will be traded to the Wizards for essentially a 2nd round pick it appears.

We gave them very little to obtain Parra. I would assume based on need, the market for Parra would be OK based on his 760 OPS, the best he has had in years, that we should get a decent A ball prospect.

You don't think having more money to put into anything they want helped? A lack of resources does hurt minor league player development and amateur drafting. Hard to expect a team who has half the resources of another to produce the same results. We can put more of our resources into it but that comes at the expense of putting it in other areas. When virtually every team has more money than you they can outspend you at any front they choose and there is nothing you can do about it. I could very easily see a team like the Brewers skimping on international scouting if they thought they couldn't land any decent prospects anyway. So we were at a disadvantage right there with nothing that could be done to help it so they invested in other areas. That can offset some of the damage done but it isn't the same as spending more on both. Now that the rules have changed we are starting to see them add a presence in some of those countries. But if that comes at the expense of scouting here in the US or player development is it going to help? That has to be especially tough when the major league payroll is maxed out by trying to maintain a competitive team. Which goes back to the problem of whether we can actually manage to continually field competitive teams without going through a rebuild phase. Just because the Cardinals can do it doesn't mean we can. We simply may not have the resources they have to pull it off. The reality of the situation seems to suggest we may have to change the way we look at building a successful franchise to fit the reality of what our team can realistically do. While its true the playing field isnt level, had we just not signed Lohse and invested his money in the scouting and development and the draft pick was used correctly, we would be much closer to being competitive.

In other words, he is an owner who made his money outside of baseball who now thinks he is a baseball man. Its easy to fall into the Herb style of ownership, just keep the team competitive year after year to keep the gate up and pray for a few break outs to bring in a play off run. I still go to the main issue: In baseball, no plan will ever work, even if you are the Yankees, if you dont INVEST to strive for a top notch farm system/pipeline from top to bottom.

Give the Brewer FO credit. They correctly identified that Wang wasn't going to be picked off waivers and found a flawed but once top 50 and still young 3B piece.

I don't get the teflon coating Jack Z. has in some folks' thinking. Who exactly did he hit on? Fielder, Weeks, Braun, Hardy, Hart, & Gallardo. That's pretty much it. And most of those were home runs before they ever played a game. Thankfully, they made up enough of a core to build a team around for a few good playoff runs. Under Jack Z., the Brewers drafted lots of all-or-nothing hitters and had an absolutely miserable time developing almost any decent pitchers. In all, it's really those 6 guys named that give Jack Z. his reputation & any credibility. Beyond that.... hmmmm..... In the end, I actually agree with the whole sentence IF you just remove the Jack Z. qualifier from it. The Brewers have to draft & develop LOTS better, period. I am not a Jack Z apologist. In fact I despised virtually everything that occurred during the Dean Taylor era in general. However, the core of the 2008 and 2011 teams were built off his drafts including the trades using his prospects. Was he great? No but compared to the Arnett and Covey drafts we are not even close to his track record.

The problem with gambling so much is you will eventually lose, and when you do it is very easy to "influence" you to change the outcome of the game in exchange for debt forgiveness. He actually was a great player and deserving of the Hall, but integrity of the game issues are not forgivable.

Once they realized Arnett and Covey werent going to become a Roy Halliday they went to plan Z and prayed Garza and Lohse would. They felt they had one year left in 2015 and they kept it together. I guess I can't fault them for it, but now that the plan failed miserably its time to break it down as best as they can. None of the assets are playing along other than KRod to make this rebuild plan work, but they need to move on from these contracts and start fresh. Or to put it another way, our Number 1 asset is a 1.4 WAR player, KRod. Our number two is Lind and Braun at 1.2 each. If that is what they plan on bringing back in 2016, then they might was well blow it up, because the attendance will be the same either way.

K-Rod is having a fine season but if you think he's going to bring you a prospect with a high ceiling you are dreaming. Your choice is a prospect who's ceiling is that of a marginal major leaguer or a bottom of the rotation starter or to take a guy who's useful for a year or two as your actual prospects are developing and can be moved later on. Gomez (likely) and Segura (possibly) are the trade chips that will return prospects of quality. If there's a deal for them in the next month that makes sense, fine. If not, wait until the winter when there should be even more suitors. I really don't think the Jays are interested in expanding a deal beyond K-Rod right now. Their best positional prospect, Pompey is a CF, and they are getting decent production from Kevin Pillar in CF. They also have Michael Saunders who is expected back from the DL in July. That being said I wouldn't be interested in Valencia. Not that he wouldn't fit as a stop gap at 3B for a rebuilding team. But they've picked up Perez and Dominguez in recent weeks so why not just let those two battle it out? I dont recall saying KRod would bring back a top prospect. I suggested we should be trading for best available prospect, as opposed to a major league ready piece that likely will be a 22-25th roster player. I also think KRod holds enough value to not be a salary dump candidate. i think he is worth more than say a Delmonico level prospect, which at the time was pretty decent, such as it turned out.

I was all for the Grienke and CC trades. Not so much Marcum because of how I dont believe he leveraged the asset that WAS Lawrie as well as he could have. The trades signaled a sine wave approach, go for it when you get close, then reload. Or so I thought. The problem is they went from a go for it mentality with the inevitable fall right into a Herb Kohl style of keep it going with second tier expensive guys with the hopes that the farm system will fill in the gaps. Ultimately, ANY plan fails when you draft and develop the way the Brewers had since Jack Z left.

At this point, I doubt much of that matters anymore. GM's know what they want and what you have. The market is going to be made on the field and in the contract. The only thing that will improve a package is a bidding war and the criticality of a teams needs.

The vets arent helping the rebuild plan. ARam will bring back something OK just because he is a 3B and typically starts slow. The two starters are disasters. Gomez hasn't been healthy or elite in 2015. Braun is back to 2014 (627 OPS last 28 days). Luc and Segura are the only guys that will bring anything decent back based on position and control, but neither has lit it up. I have a bad feeling we will see most of this team back in 2016.

Best prospect available should be the target for all trades. The closer you get to wanting "major league ready" is the reason you get a trade for Mensch and Nix.

This right here. You play to win the game. Anyone who has a problem with what he did should go back and make sure the second base was touched every time the Nats turned a double play. Once again, this all falls on the umpire. He's the one that didn't enforce the rule. Exactly. I for one am kind of sick of the unofficial rules of the way the game should be played the "right way". See: Cardinals. The umpires need to enforce the rules that are actually on the books.

This is like an NBA trade. I'll give you an asset to take a bad contract. If the Brewers start doing this I may never follow them again.

That statement is fair. Braun is currently better than the players you mentioned by a large margin. I pick on Braun's deal because it was based on information that wasnt accurate and it is a commitment far beyond the other black holes you suggested. Want to see the last 3 years of his extension? Look up Soriano and ARam's and Id suggest they will be very similar.

I give you Aramis Ramirez: Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ 2012 34 MIL 149 630 570 92 171 50 3 27 105 44 82 .300 .360 .540 .901 136 2013 35 MIL 92 351 304 43 86 18 0 12 49 36 55 .283 .370 .461 .831 127 2014 36 MIL 133 531 494 47 141 23 1 15 66 21 75 .285 .330 .427 .757 107 2015 37 MIL 54 199 188 14 40 12 0 7 24 8 31 .213 .251 .388 .640 71 Those are almost certainly Braun's last 4 years of his extension. I agree completely that the window theory is dated, which is why the organization needs to INVEST in a world class farm system from top to bottom.

If they were a good team that was drawing big and Braun was a marketing draw then it was a good contract when that was the case. Since neither is the case, we currently have a decent but not great LF playing RF who will cost us a ton of money while the team fights for top 5 draft picks the next 2-3 years. After that, he will be replacement level but making good money.

They are setting up for the Cardinals getting away with it based on the possibility of it being a single rouge employee instead of higher ups. This is just mlbtraderumors speculation but this could be a very unsatisfactory ending.

Pretty much. No matter what team Braun is traded to (if he's traded), he's going to get a big ovation for his first home at bat. Even St. Louis. I don't see any fan base having a negative reaction to their team acquiring Braun in the middle of the season for a playoff push. I am no Braun fan anymore but I agree completely. Once he gets in the batters box for another team, he will be welcomed by the fan base. He is worth a lot more to other teams than he is to us. His contract is bad for Milwaukee, but if he is a 850 its not bad for a big market team. Its too bad because he is back to sucking again, I had held out hope his May would propel a team like the Mets into giving us a decent package for him. Oh well.

I get any breathing 3B candidate. Dominguez was at one time a decent player with some potential. Wang has shown nothing. But at 23, and LH, the Brewers must know something we dont to think he will make it past waivers. Whenever there is a stunning move like this with no obvious reason (he sucked but so does most of our system), I wonder if there isnt off the field/character issues?

You are right. I have no idea what the framework for fines would be here? Regardless, no "typical" fine would get the point across.

They could do pool money I would think and draft picks. I doubt the CBA has a fine that means much, since I doubt this was ever anticipated. I have more security on my fantasy team than the Astros had. This story is going to get fun.

Loss of picks and a fine. I doubt they can enforce a post season ban?

That is a pipe dream. He has his full no trade clause kick in after this year and I have a feeling Braun would be reluctant to waive it. Even if he would it would probably take a number of demands that would make any trade fall apart(like wanting 2021 picked up). If they don't trade him in July we are stuck with him for the long haul...which is quite likely. That's why it's fortunate he has been decent (832) this year. Unload him for a few assets and call it a day.