A Swing and A Drive

Am I the only one extremely worried about Guerra's health and effectiveness as a SP the Brewers can count on going forward this season?

It's refreshing for someone to remind us that there is no right or wrong, simply a difference of opinion. A month ago, I myself was an advocate of this being not the right time in the re-build to make any type of win-now trades. However, the Brewers going 8-2 in their last 10 games, whopping the Cubs in Wrigley last Thursday, being one blown save away from sweeping the Yankees in New York, and the Brewers having a 5.5 NL Central cushion at the All-Star break has made me a believer in the magic of this year's team. Call it Brewer fever if you must, but I think standing pat with our current roster this season would be a missed opportunity.

I like the fact that Quintana is a lefty with an additional year of control as well. However, I think the White Sox will hold out for an absolute haul of prospects for him, and rightfully so. That's the thing with Quintana and Gray, their clubs DON'T HAVE TO TRADE THEM this deadline if they are not completely blown away and get exactly what value they want via trade. This basically gives them the upper hand in any potential trade. For Quintana, I think both the Astros and Cubs would be able and willing to match or top our offer (if we even decide to make one). Astros hypothetical offer for Quintana: OF Kyle Tucker (BA #11 overall prospect) RHP Franklin Perez (BA #32 overall prospect) OF Derek Fisher (BA #54 overall prospect) Cubs hypothetical offer for Quintana: OF Eloy Jimenez (BA #5 overall prospect) RHP Dylan Cease (BA #83 overall prospect) 3B Jeimer Candelario (#3 org prospect MLB-ready) Brewers hypothetical offer for Quintana: OF Lewis Brinson (BA #16 overall prospect) SP Woodruff, Hader or Ortiz (BA #43, 61, 67 respectively) 3B Lucas Erceg (#7 organizational prospect, probably 150-200 overall range) And if the Yankees decided they want him, they have the #3 overall prospect in baseball to offer, 3B/SS Gleybar Torres. I suspect Stearns won't want (nor should he likely) to pay the actual cost to land Quintana. I'm worried if the Cubs lose out on Jose they will turn to Sonny, who they drafted out of high school (he decided to attend Vanderbilt and did not sign).

Even if these guys don't reach their ceilings or turn into all stars developing your own pitching saves a ton of money. Up until this season Peralta wasn't all that bad so if youre going to use him as an example you have to decide if his time here was worth more or less than a half season of whoever it is you were going to trade him for 8 years ago. We still have very few quality pitching prospects and while trading for guys like Quintana or Gray, who have multiple years of control, won't hurt as much as trading for a half season rental we still need our own guys to fill the rotation so we can spend our money elsewhere. For Quintana or Gray (preferrably Quintana) Id only include Hader, Ortiz or Woodruff but not more than one. The rest of the package would have to help ease our crowded outfield situation, though Brinson to me is untouchable as I see him as having a chance to be a perennial all star. So my best offer for Quintana would be: Woodruff/Hader/Ortiz + Ray/Phillips + 2 lesser guys (Lopez/Cordell/Medeiros/Cooper/Ponce/Orimoloye/etc). For Gray I offer less. I hope the times are a changing, but the Brewers have not been just terrible but absolutely atrocious at developing their own starting pitchers for decades now. In the last 20+ years the SP that the Brewers have drafted and developed that have won more than 25 games as a Brewer are: Yovani 89 wins Sheets 86 wins Jimmy Nelson 29 wins Manny Parra 26 wins That's the entire list folks. Plus Peralta has 47 wins as an international signee. That could aid to the argument that the guys like Hader and Woodruff are "untouchable" via trade but I think it also points out the huge attrition rate of pitching prospects. Having a bird in the hand is better than having two in the bush. (especially for contenders, lol) I understand fans concerns about Sonny Gray due to his size and injury plagued 2016 season. However, I not only believe that he is the better pitcher of the two (Quintana) but I also think that he will cost less via trade. I think that we maybe could land him in a package without Brinson or Hader (and hopefully not Woodruff or Ortiz either.) The Brewers are lucky to have a nice group of prospects right behind those preceived "blue chippers" above that I think the organization can afford to part with. I think a deal could be headlined by OF Corey Ray. (before his perceived value takes a Clint Coulter like downturn. He's already fallen out of Baseball America's Top 100 prospects BTW) Once again, which of these players is really the deal breaker in my proposed Gray offer? OF Corey Ray MI Mauricio Dubon OF Trent Clark RHP Marcos Diplan I actually think Dubon could end up being the best major leaguer in my offer. But with Arcia, Villar, Isan Diaz and now Keston Huira in our system, I think the Brewers are well covered at MI for the future and can afford to part with Dubon.

Brewer fans unwilling to trade pitching prospects would have likely deemed Wily Peralta an "untouchable" pitching prospect not long ago.

Brinson, Hader and Phillips is really worth Clayton Kershaw in some Brewer fans minds? So let me get this straight... A similar package of players that we got one year ago (Brinson, Ortiz and Cordell) for one and a half years of Jonathan Lucroy is now as valuable as the best Pitcher of this generation and a sure fire hall of famer? Please pass whatever you fellas are smokin'

And again, the real "cost" of Quintana or Gray would be considerably less in the long run if we simply rented them for a calendar year. We can turn around and trade them next July for a similar haul to what we may give up. If we are contending again next year then great, we roll with our SP still with team control left.

I think Quintana will bring in a package similar to Brinson, Hader and Phillips. The cost for Gray should be a little be less, but not a whole lot less.

The reason A's are dangling Lowrie is because they already have a top prospect, Franklin Barretto ready to man 2B.

Also factoring in that Kershaw and Trout both make 33 million per season, whereas Sonny is not their "caliber" he will make less than 10 million in arb the next 2 seasons. I don't think the league has seen the best of Sonny Gray yet, either. I really believe in his talent and think that he can be as good as Ben Sheets in his prime.

Only 4th time in Brewers history with 50 wins at All-Star break!

Ray, Clark, Dubon and Diplan only if we get Kershaw or Trout? I mean there is overrating top prospects... and then there is this. In my proposal, the Brewers even create a package without giving up Hader, Brinson or Woodruff, who are our most valuable and MLB ready prospects. My goodness. I can honestly say the A's would almost certainly TURN DOWN this offer for Sonny.

Hard to call Nelson a legit #1 starter. Dude didn't even have a rotation spot coming into the year and fans would have been fine DFAing him at the beginning of this season. Yes he's had a nice run here but let's not get crazy Wily Peralta had a similar nice stretch last September. I guess he's a legit #1 too? Nelson would be a decent #3-4 starter on a playoff caliber baseball team.

These Ballpark Pass buyers are simply NOT going to stand the whole game if they see open seats. The Brewers know this. They can hire as many "Mall Cop" ushers as they want and it won't matter.

I think you guys are selling him a little short comparing him to Wade Boggs, Craig Biggio and Jose Altuve. I think Honus Wagner is a better comp.

Our current offensive can hang with the best in baseball right now. If Anderson didn't get hurt, I can see the argument of standing pat. If not having full faith in Guerra and Davies and Garza being what they are, I think the Brewers would be very unwise to NOT add a starter via trade. Woodruff could be a good pitcher in time, but as a rookie you have to expect some ups and downs at the MLB level. Nothing against Woodruff, but I don't think he's the type of talent that takes the league by storm. I'd say his talent level is closer to that of a Jimmy Nelson-type starter and we all know how inconsistent he's been. I mean Nelson entered the Spring without a spot in our rotation even.

No he isn't. They would probably offer Wheeler and then back out at the last minute. I wonder if the Mets players mess with Wilmer Flores every July and tell him he's been traded to the Brewers again? Maybe see if he will start crying and stuff...

So basically any prospect that has their stock down you'd be willing to trade only? I understand that certain prospects are our favorites but I think Stearns will need to be a little more open minded if we plan on adding a significant piece. If not, it's Jhoulys Chacin or BUST!

The Brewers and Cubs play head-to-head 10 more times this season. These games will be HUGE! 7 at Miller Park, 3 at Wrigley I'm not 100% sure who has "home field" advantage though. lol

Fair enough then... Brewers get: RHP Sonny Gray A's get: OF Corey Ray RHP Brandon Woodruff OF Monte Harrison Who says no? Maybe add in RHP Taylor Jungmann in case that's who they really wanted in 2011 draft but WE stole him RIGHT FROM UNDER THEM.

Well this is out of left field....(no pun intended)

That's a fair request. Instinct tells me that Woodruff will have more future value then Hader to our franchise.

I have little doubt the Cubs could turn it around in a heartbeat, but I think it's important to point out that this year's team has some significant warts that aren't sure to clear up this season.

Interesting how Junior Guerra is not poping up in any of these August 1st rotations so far.

Is that you Brent?