A Swing and A Drive

Both Fowler and Kaprielian are coming off major injuries and Mateo's prospect stock is way down. Brewers could have and should have beaten this package with relative ease. Terrible. Makes me physically ill. The Rich Get Richer.

Since there is about an hour until the deadline, I'd say at this point they ARE in the conversation to the end.

that link doesn't mean the brewers are not in on Verlander, its just why he doesn't make sense. it would be a way to get a good starter without giving up prospects. i don't rule out the brewers getting him. So at this point the Brewers hopes of adding a significant player pretty much come down to whether or not Kate Upton likes cheese curds. Great. http://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-15-at-3.15.50-AM-e1487146857798.png

This is dead on. Nice post.

If I'm the A's, I'd be really interested in a depth package, with 4 quality prospects than one blue-chip headliner at this point. The Brewers can provide this, but the A's need to really like the prospects we'd be offering. If they are in love with Estaben Florial, perhaps they can be sold on Monte Harrison instead.

That's a good assessment TPlush. Hope Brewers pass on him.

Starting to think Mark A told Stearns to pay whatever price he's comfortable with but to please add a SP via trade.

I don't think the Yankees will get Frazier or Torres, but my point was the A's are trying to add Alonso to the deal to add value to Gray and convince Yankees to pony up, which they likely won't. I have a feeling dark horse team and not the Yankees or Brewers get Gray now if the quality of the headliner is lowering.

The Yankees are in first place and happen to have a black hole at 1B all season. They certainly have interest in Alonso, even if they don't want to part with Frazier for Gray. They aren't attached to their prospects like they are their World Championships. Unlike the Brewers, they have a large market payroll to fill any roster holes that are created by traded prospects.

The A's could also be trying to get Yonder Alonso added into their Yankees deal to increase the return. If that's not getting Frazier, than A's should look elsewhere (Brewers) and circle back and try to get Florial for Alonso alone.

You could start by being the GM in a fantasy baseball league perhaps? I heard David Stearns had on his resume that he won half a dozen fantasy baseball championships in his 20s. Done and done.

Not sure the A's are dying to get Jacob Nottingham back via trade at this juncture. lol

To be fair, I should have pointed out that I do also agree with the Hader/Matz talent comparison.

The talent of the forementioned Mets pitchers blows our Top 4 pitching prospects completely out of the water. If Stearns offered all 4 pitchers for Noah Syndergaard alone, the offer would get rejected in a heartbeat. Brandon Woodruff untouchable? I'm sorry if this was posted by Brandon's Mom, but no. Comparing Ortiz to Jacob deGrom? There is wishful thinking then there's this. However, as a fellow Brewer fan, I sure hope you are right.

Everyone is making good points and it's pretty clear that they're really isn't a pressing NEED to sell right now given the circumstances/trade chips we have. I mean if Stearns got a call on Knebel with a can't pass up type offer, I trust that he'd act on it if it's in the best interests long term. I would want move than the Padres are asking for Brad Hand, however, and I'm almost positive the Padres will be settling for less or keeping him at this point.

If I'm the A's, I'd be asking for Brinson also as a starting point. With that said, the teams rumored to be in on Gray still like the Yankees, are only offering someone like CF Estevan Florial. That's the equivelant of the Brewers trying to headline the deal with Monte Harrison, IMO. I think the Brewers could still beat that with a CF headliner of Ray or Phillips, plus better 2nd or 3rd pieces. I have a feeling a dark horse, non-contender like the Braves or the Padres could swoop in with a lesser package for Sonny and have some Brewer fans shaking their heads on why the Brewers didn't beat the offer.

That would be ideal. I assume you mean Hader, Woodruff, Ortiz and Burnes? It could happen, but my guess is that it could take either Woodruff, Ortiz or Burnes if Brinson is not in it. Question: How would you rank those three on order of preference on keeping out of any deal? Personally, I'd say 1. Corbin Burnes 2. Brandon Woodruff 3. Luis Ortiz Burnes is a dealbreaker for me, personally. I think he's going to be a sneaky good major leaguer in the mold of a Tim Hudson. Woodruff and Ortiz is a toss-up for me, but I prefer keeping Woodruff because he's closer to the Majors and I'm not as worried about his future conditioning. How would you rank them?

I'm quite happy that Stearns DIDN'T offer Brinson in an offer for Quintana and did not want him to. I'm also to happy to learn that he did "try" to put a competitive package for him together based off lesser prospects. His offer just got beat out, which I think was expected. If you look at the first post of this thread, I stated that Quintana would cost more than Gray for obvious reasons, but thought that the Brewers had the depth to put together a package for Sonny Gray instead. For those Brewer fans that think Sonny Gray is a #3 starter/injury prone midget, I can see why this is not something you'd want the Brewers to do. I personally, think Sonny Gray will become a better SP than Quintana is right now and would love for the Brewers to add him. Since he's controlled for a full season less than Quintana, he should be cheaper anyway you slice it. Very soon, we shall see...

I agree with this for the most part. Expect for at some point the organization actually needs to focus on QUALITY over QUANITY when it comes to their farm system. I like the depth of the Brewers current system, but I'd much rather have a "top heavy" system like we did a dozen years ago with Braun/Fielder at the top. The Brewers might have one of the strongest 1-30 farm systems in the league, but I think they are a bit weak at the top. At some point, the Brewers will have 5-6 league average OF ready for the big leagues. Even if Braun/Santana are traded and the Brewers have 3 OF spots to fill by say 2019, I'd rather have one potential all-star player than 3 average ones. (Brinson is the only current farmhand that I'm confident has All-Star abilities with a solid chance at reaching them.) I also get that up until this point of the rebuild, we were still acquiring as much talent as possible and seeing if some cream rises to the top. That's a great strategy, but at some point you have to turn perceived farm assets into help at the MLB level. I mean, I'd love to trade 3 average regular prospects for one high-end SP pitching prospect, but those type of trades just don't happen. I agree that the Brewers are at least a year ahead of schedule on this aspect of the rebuild, but here we are. That's why targeting "controllable" assets (like Sonny Gray, Michael Fulmer, Dan Straily, etc) would be the best way to go if I'm the Brewers. And at most trade deadlines and especially in the offseason, these types of controllable players rarely get traded. Making a move like Cordell for Swarzak is silly at this point unless the Brewers plan on making a more significant move(s) before Monday's trade deadline. If Steans can't get a controllable SP without giving up Brinson or Hader, then I'm fine with him standing pat. But I think he has the depth to pull it off if he gets creative. I do agree that Milwaukee's small market payroll makes controllable average regular types more valuable to an organization like ours as opposed to the Yankees, Dodgers or Cubs. There's plenty of value in those types as well, I just think it's harder to make a deep playoff run without a core of all-star level players.

According to Baseball America's Top 100 Midseason prospect list, Eloy Jimenez is the 5th best prospect in baseball. Corey Ray is not in the Top 100. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-midseason-top-100-prospects-july-7/#eXK1te6qcQ2eVrzk.97 That's a HUGE difference in value as a headlining prospect in a deal. Also the reason why Jose Quintana is a Cub and not a Brewer.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2017/04/01/pitcher-tyler-cravy-lashes-out-after-being-cut-brewers/99805424/ Cravy said he might seek “a 9 to 5 job where I get treated like a human, at this point.” I heard Walmart is hiring. Add of course, Wilmer... http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/wilmer-flores-crying-game-trade-mets-carlos-gomez-looking-back-one-year-after-072916

The Mets would be stupid not to take that offer. We could have also add in a "cry baby" angle to the swap and send Tyler Cravy for Wilmer Flores as well.

There's no way the White Sox would have taken Ray/Ortiz as the top two pieces in a Quintana trade, let alone the ONLY two pieces. I don't doubt that's all Stearns offered as a rejected starting point, however.

Makes some sense if Brett Phillips is going to be the one traded. Granderson bats left and can play anywhere in the OF including CF. He could either platoon with Brinson or be insurance if Brinson can't hit over .200 again this time up. In that case, he could also platoon with Broxton.

Could adding Trent Clark and a 4th piece get this done and let us keep Brinson? Brewers get: RHP Sonny Gray 2B Jed Lowrie A's get: OF Corey Ray (or OF Brett Phillips) RHP Luis Ortiz OF Trent Clark RHP Cody Ponce (or a similar tiered 4th piece) Jed Lowrie would give us another option at 2B and his numbers are actually better than Ian Kinslers this year, as well as being 2 years younger and more versatile (can play 2B,3B, SS) I just don't think Trent Clark will be much more than a replacement level player at the MLB level. Note: I'm starting to believe that outside of Brinson, that Monte Harrison should be the next in line OF that the Brewers should be reluctant to part with.