MrTPlush

A Lucroy/Braun combo would be a fun trade. With the Dodgers it probably assures De Leon, Bellinger, and one of Holmes/Montas/Alvarez(maybe two of them but I will play it safe). Add in some other more minor pieces and that is quite a haul.

Yikes. Nope. Trent Clark is minimum #7 if you really love Nottingham/Lopez.

Honestly I am not even sure a contender would want him. At the trade deadline teams want proven guys with a track record. No serious contender is going to want a pitcher who didn't get to the bigs till he was 30 and has half a season of starts under his belt.

Too much. Both those players have high ceilings. Probably would have to get a more unknown prospect in return. Hill just isn't doing well enough to warrant that type of return.

Mets and it isn't even close. The Mets aren't even leading their division with Matz. They need him on that team and a trade including Matz doesn't make sense. Addition by subtraction for little gain.

So going off last year this approach doesn't really make sense. We would have had 3 more extra 1st round talents, but minus two since that is what we lose in future draft picks. So in the end a net gain of one 1st round pick. While that sounds nice a team could probably do the same thing with underslot deals to get just as much overall talent. Another problem is the fact you don't know where those future picks are. If the Twins did this last year I am sure they were expecting to have a decent team this year and not pick in the Top 10. However they would lose a Top 3 pick if they tried this last year...oops. It's too risky to dangle the loss of what could be a high pick. Teams falter every year and play under expectations.

A way more interesting and more plausible idea would be if a draft were so bad at the top that a Top 5 team intentionally drafts a guy to not sign him. Then taking that years pick and bonus pool to the next year that scouts know is going to be filled with elite talent at the top. Of course this theory is incredibly unethical for a team to do and most likely highly frowned upon. However that being I bet a team could do it under the table quite easily if they wanted to. Maybe taking a guy they know has a health issue and just saying they couldn't reach an agreement by low balling them. Or we could draft some front office guys son out of HS and not sign him.

In my opinion the penalties are too hard for his to make sense. Paying double the money and losing two first round picks doesn't really make sense. As some else mentioned you aren't going to get top half of the 1st type talent because those guys will sign. You are going to be able to get fringe 1st round options and those flame out 9/10. Interesting idea, but not really a good risk.

When looking at Braun you can't just look at his offensive stats. There are many more variables that effect his value and what a market wants to pay him. Here are below just some issues with a Cespedes comparison: Yoenis Cespedes contract is 3 years vs Braun at 4 years. That's worth a couple million more yearly itself. Cespedes contract would run through his age 32 season vs. Braun's running through his age 36 season. Once again a big difference. Cespedes doesn't have a major injury concerns vs. Braun with multiple chronic injuries(back/thumb most notably). Another big difference. Cespedes has above average defense and could play CF vs. Braun who can only play an average LF.

He would hang up so fast you wouldn't even hear him laugh. I am sorry, but we just aren't going to get a prospect that good for Braun barring a complete utter maricle. I think Lucroy has tons more value than Braun and Robles is a huge dream to get. Though for Licroy maybe not impossible. Regarding the money I think $20mil will make a lot of teams happy. That way the contract is small enough to where if his injuries tank his production it won't be a big burden on the payroll. Or God forbid he gets suspended for an entire season(saves the money, but not the prospects they gave up to help them win games). OR make them feel better if his production naturally falls off in a year or two. People have to understand that paying him a big chunk of money and giving up prospects is not attractive to any team. You then have risks on the financial side and on the prospects you just sacrificed. It all depends on how desperate a team is and how the market shakes out. I always look to Cole Hamels who all the experts said the Phillies needed to eat money, but in the end I don't think they did and they got quite a haul. Honestly then, I would just hold onto Braun if we can't get two legitimate prospects in return for him. I realize there are injury risks and PED history with him that teams may want to stay away from, but the guy is still one of the best RH bats in baseball when he is healthy - and despite his indiscretions, he's been the face of our franchise since he came up about 10 years ago. I don't think we should give the guy away for an Adam Lind like deal where all you are getting back is a couple of lottery tickets. I think we should expect to get a couple of good prospects in return for him - guys that have a good shot of at least being MLB starters/contributors for us. I know it isn't my money, but I'd be willing to eat about 20 mil in the deal if it brought back two legit prospects in the deal. Our payroll isn't going to be high the next couple of years, and we were going to have to pay Braun that money anyway. But, if we can't get a good package in return for him, then let's just hold onto him. Either he ends his career as a Brewer, or maybe some other team gets desperate in the offseason or next July (if Braun is putting up great numbers again) - and then we can have this same discussion all over again. Not saying we can't get good prospects, but Turner/Robles are about as good as it gets. The kind of prospects that are only traded for special players controllable for years at pre FA prices. Fedde is an attainable target in the Nationals system and I think they could get a slightly better prospect too. If a team is desperate for a RH bat Braun might be the best thing available by a long shot. I could see something as good as a Brett Phillips type prospect. Throw in another solid prospect and some lower level guys and you have yourself a nice haul.

He would hang up so fast you wouldn't even hear him laugh. I am sorry, but we just aren't going to get a prospect that good for Braun barring a complete utter maricle. I think Lucroy has tons more value than Braun and Robles is a huge dream to get. Though for Licroy maybe not impossible. Regarding the money I think $20mil will make a lot of teams happy. That way the contract is small enough to where if his injuries tank his production it won't be a big burden on the payroll. Or God forbid he gets suspended for an entire season(saves the money, but not the prospects they gave up to help them win games). OR make them feel better if his production naturally falls off in a year or two. People have to understand that paying him a big chunk of money and giving up prospects is not attractive to any team. You then have risks on the financial side and on the prospects you just sacrificed. It all depends on how desperate a team is and how the market shakes out. I always look to Cole Hamels who all the experts said the Phillies needed to eat money, but in the end I don't think they did and they got quite a haul.

I bet the seagulls could play better baseball.

The Dodgers "don't make any sense at all"? They have gotten absolutely awful production from their catchers. That alone is a great reason for them to trade for Lucroy. They also don't have any large money invested into a catcher long term to really stop a deal. Yasmani Grandal was a solid cacher the last two years, but nothing really all that special. Brewers could always take him in a trade. I sure wouldn't mind taking back Grandal as a solid piece of a trade.

The Brewers would have to eat money to trade Braun. That is just the reality. Braun is made of glass, bad past, and getting old. Throwing lots of money at him and giving up big time prospects isn't going to happen. I will agree that the packages proposed for the Giants is a little on the "meh" side, but I don't expect Braun to bring back any great prospects. He still should be bring back some promising guys though.

Well everyone wants a haul for sentimental reasons.

Exactly what I thought along with his very hard swing. Not very contact oriented.

Why doe Orlando Arcia only have 6 doubles despite playing in Colorado? I am a whole lot more concerned about Arcia than Moncada offensively. The Red Sox simply aren't going to trade a Top 5 prospect and essentially eat $60mil. I'd think the Brewers would have to pay the Red Sox back some of that money to even make it work.

At least we didn't totally waste the pick like the Mariners did in the 24th round. Now you can't tell me that wasn't a wasted pick.

I bet Cody Ponce is going to get a ton of love this time around. He is pitching finally and I think he is going to put up great numbers at Brevard. Wouldn't be surprised to see him shoot up rankings. Jorge Lopez should be an interesting case. Do people give him a pass being at Colorado or do people drop him way down? Jacob Nottingham has thankfully improved lately with the bat. Would be nice to find an update on his defense though. Still a lot of time before we vote and we get to watch rookie ball players a bit before voting.

Ahh my biggest pet peeve. The use of age to start comparing players. Orlando Arcia has been in Pro ball since he was 16 years old playing good competition and getting elite training. Moncada was stuck in Cuba till he was 20. Arcia, like many international prospects, get to start earlier and have that to their advantage. The whole covers action is moot because the Red Sox aren't going to trade a Top 5 prospect and especially not one they dumped $60mil on to sign.

Yah nice batting practice swing...check out his in game swing. I like Lewis, but he has too busy of a swing for me and he comes of as a hacker. I honestly see a little bit of Carlos Gomez when I watch him. Not Gomez bad, but he swings hard every pitch. I think there are some legitimate concerns with him that he couldn't really prove wrong against weaker competition. I am betting that is what lead the Brewers to take Ray over him along with the fact they believe Ray can stick in CF. However no knock on Lewis as he is a pretty good prospect himself with a high ceiling.

I guess I'm not super familiar with Moncada. Is he the 19 or so year old that was a big time Cuban free agent in 14-15? Why is he so untouchable? Nothing about his minor league numbers screams Harper/Trout level prospect. He plays 2B and is considered a Robinson Cano with more speed. He probably won't hit as many homeruns because of his swing(not a ton of loft), but he is a doubles machine. He has struck out a tad bit, but not a crazy amount. He has a fairly attainable ceiling(best 2B in the game) and a very high floor. In my opinion he may be the best prospect in the game for those reasons.

Brewers would take that in a heartbeat. I think the Brewers would get a few more lottery ticket type players though.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/06/cafardos-latest-brewers-teheran-kemp-hudson.html Now this I do not buy one bit. Executives from Detroit and Seattle have said Stearns' was nothing but reasonable when it came to negotiations, and publicly praised DS after the trades of both Lind and K-Rod. It's probably someone trying to gain leverage in any possible way to swing a deal in their favor. Also they're probably upset they didn't take advantage of our previous regime. Usually I take whatever "unknown executives" say with a grain of salt, but this irked me. Nothing in his history shows that he's unrealistic with his expectations or player values. Just because DS has a firm asking price doesn't mean he is being unrealistic. Could be leaks meant to pressure Stearns to dropping his asking price. Doubt he does. Even MLBTR recognized the other day that a fair return would be as much as two of Boston's top prospects (Moncada, Devers, etc.) I don't think much thought was put into that comment from MLBTR. Moncada straight up for Lucroy wouldn't happen.

I'm not really surprised. He has been awful, he doesn't make much, and isn't one of Stearn's guys. Would have been sooner if Garza didn't take so long.