A Swing and A Drive

Me thinks the Cubs are gonna need to make up another "Curse" to try to explain to their fans why they will suck for the next 100 years. In the meantime... Cubs were expected to have a nice 3-5 year window of being a dominate team with all their young core players. Not happenin' and here's part of it... 1. David Ross' contributions to the team last year are immeasurable and the team is not the same without him. 2. Losing leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler to FA was a huge loss that isn't being replaced. 3. Kyle Schwarber can't hit a high fastball or lay off breaking balls in the dirt. He's a complete mess. 4. Jake Arrieta has not pitched like an ACE in his FA walk year. (Probably stopped taking roids this year until he gets his payday- Lackey's theory) 5. Kris Bryant is not exactly repeating his NL MVP numbers. 6. Kyle Hendricks has been hurt and/or ineffective. 7. The rest of their starting pitching has been terrible. Brett Anderson and Eddie Bulter???? really? really??? 8. The downgrade from Chapman to Wade Davis is significant in their bullpen. The rest of their pen is average at best. 9. Jason Heyward is hiting .259 with 6 hr and 1 sb. He might be great with the glove but he sucks offensively. Cubs will regret that signing long term. Fowler was clearly more valuable to the team. 10. SS Addison Russell is hitting .232 with 7 hr and 2 sb. Our SS is better. 11. Anthony Rizzo's naked motivational speeches starting to feel more like they are... AWKWARD AND WEIRD! Earth to Rizzo....you're not Lou FRICKIN' Brown! Put some damn pants on! http://img.beckett.com/news/news-content/uploads/2013/10/1989MLBrown.jpg GO BREWERS!

A's GM Billy Beane likely thinks he got the better end of Stearns on the OF Khris Davis for C Jacob Nottingham and RHP Bubba Derby trade a little over a year ago. I would hope the positive karma from that deal could lead the pair to try to work out a deal for Sonny. And yes, I agree a CF prospect like Corey Ray is probably right in their wheelhouse to headline a deal. Another Brewers CF prospect Monte Harrison has increased his stock at single A this season with a breakout first half that included two HR in the Midwest League All-Star game. I wouldn't doubt that he would be a player on Beanes radar as well.

Some commenter on the the MLBTRADERUMORS thread proposed this: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/07/brewers-trade-rumors-jose-quintana-sonny-gray.html#comments Who hangs up first? Oakland gets: LHP Josh Hader (No.2) RHP a Brandon Woodruff (No.8) 3B Chad Mcclanahan (No.30) Brewers gets: RHP Sonny Gray Personally, I'd keep one or both of the pitchers in place of OF (Ray, Phillips, Harrison) or MI (Dubon, Isan Diaz) because of our depth at those positions. With that said, I believe the A's may demand at least one pitcher coming back to them in any deal.

Picked Jed Bradley right before Sonny as well. Things were broken and children were sworn in front of that day...

Don't toot your own horn too much about calling the Rockies fade. Everyone and their brother have been saying the Brewers will fade as well. Lucky guess on the Rockies though.

No need to apologize for Wang. lol

Could David Stearns pull a Theo Epstein and uncover a hidden gem like Jake Arrietta? Look no further than the Baltimore Orioles once again. A player having a down season but with still a huge ceiling IMO is RHP Dylan Bundy. I'd love to take a chance on him as I think he will still become at least a #2 starter once he breaks through. Not sure what it would take to get him.

Instead of Volquez, I wonder if the Marlins would be willing to trade Dan Straily instead? He's controlled through 2020 and I'm sure they already regret trading RHP Luis Castillo to the Reds for him. I'd be willing to trade a player like Brett Phillips for him, certainly.

I agree that since the Brewers are contenders, I'm glad he's going to try to mess up his swing further. Thames seems like a guy who would really get into it and possibly even get hurt. I'd rather he get some rest for the 2nd half.

That would get their attention but probably not be enough. Plus I doubt the Brewers would be willing to trade Broxton during the season. Maybe put Trent Clark, Monte Harrison or Brett Phillips in the deal in his place. Still think it would take more for Quintana.

Sonny Gray will cost less than Quintana and is actually the better pitcher. Mark my words. lol I think we could land him without parting with Hader or Brinson even. I think we could get Sonny for a package headlined by OF Corey Ray. Plus 2 or 3 of these guys: OF Trent Clark OF Brett Philips OF Ryan Cordell OF Monte Harrison SS Mauricio Dubon 2B Isan Diaz RHP Brandon Woodruff RHP Marcos Diplan RHP Cody Ponce RHP Freddy Peralta That means we land a controlable high end SP without giving up Brinson, Hader, Ortiz or Erceg. Side note: Edison Volquez is a dumpster fire waiting to happen. Hope the Brewers pass on him.

A couple of quick points: 1. The Brewers have a 4.5 game lead in the division on July 7th. They ARE playoff contenders. 2. Rockies are fading to the point where 2nd WC will be an option for Brewers as well as division. 3. Nationals, Dodgers and Dbacks might be better than the Brewers but anything can happen once you get into the postseason. 4. The Cubs (or Cards) could win 100 games next year and the year after and this might be a rare opportunity. 5. The Milwaukee Brewers have only made the postseason 4 times out of nearly 50 years as a franchise. 6. The Brewers 40 man-roster is starting to fill up and we will not have enough spots for our beloved "top" prospects. 7. Moving our Farm pieces at positions of depth (OF, MI) for controllable talent at positions of need is not "straying from the plan." 8. Quintana, Gray and Cole are all cost controled for several more seasons. They could always be moved at a later date to re-stock the farm. 9. Bob Uecker and Bud Selig are both 82 years old. They both celebrated their 50th birthday the year our current GM was born. Carpe Diem! 10. Less than 20% of prospects even make the majors, with a far less percentage becoming average regulars. For every Ryan Braun, there are 100 Mat Gamels.

Just because the Brewers staff is doing a "heckuva good job overall" doesn't mean that Ed Sedar is even doing an at least average job by any means and should just get an overall pass because we are in first place. The guy who volunteers to coach third in my summer softball league does a "heckuva" job IMO. In all honesty, if Ed Sedar showed up and volunteered to bump that guy for an inning or two, I'd be hesitant to let him. Just sayin'...

I agree that Cole has more value than Gray currently, but it's unlikely the Pirates would be willing to trade him within the same division unless they had no better options. I think the Yankees may make a play for Cole.

If Sonny Gray is moved this month, the A's will get a similar return to my Brewers proposal. Which is basically one Top 100 prospect (Ray) and 2-3 in the 100-200 MLB prospect range. I'll even add that the ones they will get will be at or close to the MLB level as well, as 3 of the players in my proposal are currently below AA.

Cubs might be thinking of calling this one due to weather before the game is official. lol

Surprised Cubs brought in another LHP with the way Counsell stacked our lineup with all RH hitters today but okay...

Side note: How rare is a one-game series during the regular season in MLB? I've been a Brewer fan for about 35 years and can't remember one. Certainly feels more important then a full 3 game series.

ANY PLAYER IN BASEBALL???? Stearns almost got that much for Tyler friggin Thornburg. lol Thorburg actual vs Gray proposal Travis Shaw = Corey Ray Mauricio Dubon = Maurico Dubon Josh Pennington = Marcos Diplan So basically OF Trent Clark's inclusion in my Gray proposal would be the difference between 2 1/2 years of Sonny Gray vs 3 years of Thornburg. I think it's a fair offer and like I said predict the A's actually get more.

I don't agree that it's too much to give up for Gray and will bet anyone that the A's actually get more for him via trade. Ray and Clark are hitting .241 and .227 respectively at high A level of the minors this season. Good chance at least one of them doesn't even make the bigs and the other is a replacement level regular. Hope I'm wrong. Add to it that they play a position, OF, that the Brewers have a glut of organizational depth. Dubon is a nice hitter and MI and I think he'll have a fine MLB career but not at an All-Star level. Diplan likely settles in as a 4-5 type starter in the bigs, which is valuable but nothing to prevent a big trade from happening on a contending team. If the Brewers turn around and trade Gray in a year or two before he's a free agent, they can recoup much of their prospect asset loses. If the A's insist on Brewers swapping in Brinson or Woodruff, I'd be fine with Stearns passing.

This is a statement game for both clubs. I haven't been this excited for a single regular season game in a long while. Come On Brewers! Let's make the Cubs pay for their "imaginary rainout game" shananigans.

It's really hard to see the Brewers motivation for offering such a deal. I noticed that all fans taking advantage of this HAVE to have the MLB.com Ballpark APP on their device. I wonder if this is actually being pushed by MLB as a test in the first step in making all future tickets paperless. That would be my guess.

Let's get him! In all seriousness, I think the A's are going to get a haul for him. Can/should the Brewers trade what it would take to land him? Most astute fans say NO. Sonny is a Free Agent after 2019 season and he doesn't fit the Brewers window to contend. I say YES. Here's why... The Brewers could simply "rent" Sonny for exactly one year. And in doing so, swap out OF prospects for SP prospects. Hear me out... This month the Brewers trade OF Corey Ray (our offer might get beat if we don't include Brinson instead, however) OF Trent Clark MI Maurcio Dubon RHP Marcos Diplan (they could demand Woodruff instead) for RHP Sonny Gray We try to contend this season and see if we are still contending next July. If so, we keep Sonny until 2019 deadline and trade him (though we will get less of a return) If not, we trade Sonny to a 2018 contender with a high-end SP prospect the headliner in the deal. So basically Brewers would be trading Clark,Dubon and Diplan for a year of Sonny Gray and flipping OF Corey Ray (or Brinson) for a similar valued SP prospect. Since we are kinda stuck with Braun, we have to move some of our glut of OF prospects for pitching prospects anyway, IMO. Since it's nearly impossible and rare for teams to do "prospect for prospect" type deals, this is like a work-around to accomplish it. And if the Brewers stay contenders this year and the next two years, they would have option to keep Sonny as a Top of the Rotation starter until he's a free agent if they want. The same can be done for someone like Quintana, but I don't like him as much and think he'll cost more. Thoughts?

I agree with this assessment and believe it's the base coaches job more than the players to know the defensive abilities of the opposing teams players for the game and factor that into sending a player or not. With that said, you still follow the "golden rules of baserunning" as noted above. ...even if the noodle-armed child of Chuck Knoblauch has the ball at the time.

I don't mind Ed Sedar's agressiveness per se, but I can't stand when he sends guys in the wrong situations. I think he's a pretty terrible 3B coach in general because of this. Both the 3B coach and ALL Players (I'm looking at you Jonathan) should know the game situation (how many outs, etc) at all times. That seldom seems to be the case by my observations. If there are two outs, you send a runner unless he has almost no chance of scoring. Don't make the 1st or 3rd out at Third Base. (Jonathan...please listen) NEVER make the first out at home. (Jonny Villar...would you PLEASE pay attention during baserunning 101) Most little leaguers grasp this but somehow not all our players or coaches can. Boggles the mind.