Boomer5

I dont think Id ever make a trade unless I got back a big arm type to round out the deal as a filler. Think a Jeff Juden type as a throw in and see if we can harness it.

I am dubious myself. The contract plus the PEDS make it a tough sell. Personally, I just think that his recent streak is just a better supplier from Miami, but Im a fool me once fool me twice guy. I am over Braun. However, I would think one more hot streak might give teams a vision of Nelson Cruz. All it takes is one dumb team, and there is no shortage of those.

I love that Braun has been so bad the last two years that the name Yuni can get put into a thread about him. At the end of the day, he is a 1-2 WAR player that will be going on a 9 digit contract on a team that is on pace to have the number one pick in the draft. He is no longer a player that transcends his analytic value, so its time to move on If a taker emerges. As I mentioned in another thread I would assume he has similar value as Heyward had (not a perfect example due to contract and defense), so perhaps thats the kind of package we'd be looking at???

This is the reason he almost has to be traded if we can find a taker. His contract was in part because he was a top 5 player and in part because he was the face of the franchise. The next Yount/Molitor. He will never be that guy, no matter how or if he bounces back.

I think the Brewers knew this was on the horizon. It seems that every trade they were rumored had a middle infielder in return, including the Rangers deal. Odd considering this was a team with so many holes and two young middle infielders. They must knew Scooter was on borrowed time.

A successful rebuilding process relies on a combination of all three of the primary ways to acquire young talent (draft, international market, trades). Regarding specifically the Astros and Cubs it seems like both have done it a little differently, but both have used trades as a significant contributing factor to building talented young cores. They have also obviously drafted in the range where there is a much greater probability to acquire impact talent and had some success on the international market as well. For each team, the rebuilding process has played out over a handful of years now. While I think hoping for a meaningful major league turnaround by 2017 is a little ambitious, I do agree with Oldcity's assertion that the Brewers still sit in a more enviable starting point for a rebuild than the Cubs and Astros once did. One team that seems to have recently accelerated the rebuilding process by using quality MLB talent to acquire good young talent is the Braves. Since the end of last season they have sacrificed their potential for present day success in order to stock their organization with enough quality depth that the odds would seem in their favor for future payoff. Since the end of last season they have added the following players via trade: Shelby Miller, RHP - Cardinals Matt Wisler, RHP - Padres Michael Foltynewicz, RHP - Astros Max Fried, LHP - Padres Rio Ruiz, 3B - Astros Tyrell Jenkins, RHP - Cardinals Manny Banuelos, LHP - Yankees Arodys Vizcaino, RHP - Cubs Jose Briceno, C - Rockies Dustin Peterson, 3B - Padres Jace Peterson, INF - Padres Ricardo Sanchez, LHP - Angels Mallex Smith, OF - Padres Andrew Thurman, RHP - Astros Certainly not all of these players will become stars or even MLB regulars, but it would seem likely that there are enough good players on that list to provide a strong young core in the near future. Now the Braves began to execute their rebuilding plan a little earlier in the process than the Brewers, so they probably had some more attractive trade options overall. Still, the Brewers have some players that will be highly sought after in the coming months, and I think at this point they must use it to their advantage to help supplement the core for what will be their next good (hopefully great) major league team. The Braves are a great analogy and I hadnt thought about then. What they did to the Cardinals was true robbery. Braun I would think represents the similar trade value as Heyward? If they can unload Braun and bring back that kind of package. Gomez would net 2 top 100 types minimum. And Luc can get us virtually anyone in the game. Lohse can get a quality prospect/s thought not top 100. I would think Garza has value just because of his resume and his position. I have no idea what anyone would give us for Broxton and KRod. The farm system is now stocked and the payroll is now clear. Does Mark A sign off? Is CC the right manager for a young team like that?

I'd say Betancourt had a 1.000 OPS over 17 games at some point. It is way too small a sample to say anything. It is very nice to see regardless. This is the perfect time to trade him. They will be selling somewhat high. Restock the farm and get out from under the contract. Win win.

That this is even a consideration by a conservative board like this is exactly why Luc needs to go on the market today. IF Rodon is realistic for a catcher that wont be a regular catcher in a year or two, then we need to go this route ASAP. Doug should make him available and wait for the offers to come in.

No one on the Brewers should be untouchable. Luc and Nelson I suppose are the closest but even they can be had at the right price. Luc wont be a regular catcher in a year so his low price wont matter then. In a way, we really owe the Cubs (and Astros) a big thank you because I think it taught Mark A that going the Herb Kohl route will never work long term.

He hasn't had much trouble finding jobs before. I think it's more than teams don't have $15M at this point in the year to be throwing at a catcher with terrible defense and who hasn't hit a lick this year. Aren't the Marlins essentially paying him $15M to go away? I have no idea what kind of guy he is, only wondering what makes a team say good bye to an expensive player after 29 AB's.

When I see things like this, I wonder what is going on behind the scenes? We tend to focus only on the on the field aspect of a player when in reality so much is the character (or lack of) that promotes transactions. These guys are human beings and deeply flawed in many cases. I think about the abrupt trade of Lawrie, then I saw the pics of him online and his disastrous choices of a personal life and it made a lot more sense.

That was a beauty for sure. Grissom was a guy I wanted to cheer for but the reality was he was the worst everyday player in the game at the time. Im sure someone must have mentioned Jeffery Hammonds too. 3 yrs $21M and no OPS+ of 100 in any year. Dean Taylor sure knew his major league talent.

The owner was right. The contract was fine given the known facts at the time. Factoring in the "other" issues since, the contract is now crippling. I am sure Mark A feels like he was sold a lemon and that can't be good around the office. Once Braun gets hot for two weeks, its time to dump him. Pay up to half his contract if they have to, and get back an attractive group of prospects.

This makes more sense. This is one aspect the advanced metrics crowd rarely gets; the personalities and chemistry of a bunch of alpha males in a locker room, let alone factoring in losing.

It would have been fine had he been an All Star caliber player, and by that I mean with popularity and marketability, into his mid 30's. As of now, its all about find a taker once he shows a few weeks of production so that he can be traded before his next injury and or slump.

This is the perfect time to trade Braun. He has had a really nice week, and let's find a sucker to help load up our farm system, even if we have to pay half his contract to obtain better prospects, it would be a nice deal.

This new era of former players with no managerial experience is all the rage. Maybe it will work for us??

This is pretty typical "You cant fire 25 players, so you fire the manager move" that is pure panic. I thought RR was a solid baseball man. Yeah he made some odd moves but all managers do over the course of a season. Im sure CC will have a better record, I mean, he has to right?

I highly doubt that. Everything I've read on the tested effects of steroids suggests this is false. I mean other players who got busted mostly reverted to like 90% of their old stats just like you would expect. Braun has a hand injury added to his case which makes him the unique one and likely causing him to be the outlier. These aren't the steroids of the Bonds era where they added tons of muscle mass, the steroids used today are very different. Then why are they risking everything by taking them in the first place? They don't enhance performance? Its kind of in the name PED's to begin with.

Well, yeah. Hitting .260 in MLB with 10-15 HR's a season means that person is in the rarified air of truly elite hitters in the world Put it this way, if Scooter Gennett was on steroids (I'm assuming he's not) he'd probably hit 20-25 HR's a year. And he'd get pitched to differently, which would potentially lead to him getting more basehits as pitchers would be more willing to risk giving him pitches that he can get singles on while trying to take away the pitches that land in his "HR zone" Nothing exists in a vacuum. Braun is getting pitched to way differently now than he did in 2011 Exactly. Without PED's Braun simply is an average player in LF, to a below average player if he is playing RF. And that is giving him a pass for a bad start in 2015. The mayor of Baltimore is having a better year than Braun right now, and we don't have to pay her for the next 5 years either.

It is the worst contract in Brewers history and it isn't close. This is a really good board, and most can separate feelings of hurt as you say vs reality. And the reality is that Braun is not a very good player and he is on the hook for 5 more years + deferred money. What evidence is there that Braun will hit to anything even approaching 2012 again? He hasn't been an elite or even good player for 2013, 2014, and the start of 2015. ' Jeff Suppan's contract was the worst the franchise has ever had. If you can't see that as being truth you need to take your haterade tinted glasses off and re-examine some of the last decades contracts. Not true. Because while Suppan was a disaster, save his meh 2007, and remarkably ill advised signing at the time without second guessing, the Brewers were still able to put a good team on the field. Braun is in steep decline with absolutely NO sign of hope other than praying he will see 2012 again, and the big dollars haven't even started yet. His contract will cause the Brewers to make spending cuts elsewhere.

There have been some signs of changes with the Yo trade for true prospects and the 2014 draft + Lara going for high ceiling players.

It is the worst contract in Brewers history and it isn't close. This is a really good board, and most can separate feelings of hurt as you say vs reality. And the reality is that Braun is not a very good player and he is on the hook for 5 more years + deferred money. What evidence is there that Braun will hit to anything even approaching 2012 again? He hasn't been an elite or even good player for 2013, 2014, and the start of 2015.

Easily it is of course. No way that contract can be justified going forward based on his 2013 to current performance and he is only getting older and more brittle. As to the contact being offered in the first place, I was fine with it. Brewer management assumed Braun was being honest with them, and it was a creative way to keep the face of the franchise in Milwaukee for his entire career. Given Braun's lies, however, the contract no longer is worthy of his current performance and most certainly will get worse as he gets older. But, as soon as that thumb heals, he will back, right? No, I mean many players struggle in April, its actually that, not the thumb. Yeah, its snarky, but a career, and team crippling contract, built off habitual lies isn't going to get a bouquet of roses from me.

The only plan is the most painful, but it does seem like 2014 was a minor sign of this: 1.) Go the Astros and Cubs route by trading away their assets for prospects, top 100 or otherwise. We did this with Yo 2.) Invest in a top end scouting and development program and draft high ceiling players. We did this in 2014. 3.) Either negotiate a buy out of Braun, or just stick him in LF where he can do the least damage for the next 5 years.