monty57

Unless Milwaukee has a far to low a price tag in what they ask for Weeks. If Milwaukee decides to trade Weeks, the price tag will be for the other team to pick up his salary. The Brewers won't likely get any significant players back. Therefore, the only way Milwaukee trades Weeks is if they're sure they have a better MLB option than Weeks available. Picking up Prado would probably qualify, and essentially they would give Weeks to another team for salary relief to help defer the additional cost of Prado. Prado would be our main 1B, with Reynolds starting at 1B against lefties, when Prado would move over to 2B. However, Prado (a career .766 OPS guy) is sporting a .685 OPS so far this season. I have no idea what's going on with him, but he's not a clear-cut offensive upgrade over what we currently have. He gives us some position flexibility, which would be nice, but he could end up being a bad contract we're stuck with for a while.

Back on topic, if Nelson can help the team, he should be brought up regardless of Super Two. In hindsight, yes. However, now that we've waited half a season and are down to something like one more start for Estrada before Nelson can avoid Super Two, then I don't think it would be a good idea to call him up before the team is sure to avoid Super Two. Estrada got blown up in June, but his last three starts have been 6.1 IP/2 ER, 6.0 IP/2 ER, 5.0 IP/3ER. Not great, but I don't think giving him one more start will kill us. I just hope that the Brewers are actually planning on bringing Nelson up, and aren't content with the "proven" Estrada being an "okay 5th starter that has settled down after a rough start."

I think this trade idea is better suited for the offseason. He gets a decent number of PAs, and he's our insurance against a Lucroy injury, so right now Maldonado is more important to this team in his current role than he would get in trade. This offseason, when teams are gearing up for a new season, he could probably bring back a decent player from a team looking for a catcher. By waiting for the offseason, we remain protected for this season, and we give Zarraga another half season to prove he's not "smoke and mirrors." I like prospects, but I'm always wary of those who come from nowhere and have a big season. I hope Zarraga becomes a productive major leaguer, and trading away Maldonado this offseason is something to consider, but there's too much to lose by trading away our good backup catcher right now and pinning that responsibility on Zarraga.

I don't think 1B is that big of a problem that the Crew need to overpay I'll start by saying that I don't like to overpay for anything, so if you are correct that the only thing out there is prohibitively expensive, than I'll agree we should not give up the farm for an upgrade. However, as we near the All-Star break, playing in favorable match-ups (Overbay mainly against RHP and Reynolds overweighted against LHP), here are the respective lines: Overbay: 161 AB, 3 HR, .236 avg / .319 OBP / .335 SLG / .654 OPS Reynolds: 250 AB, 13 HR, .208 avg / .304 OBP / .388 SLG / .692 OPS Other than Segura, everyone else in the lineup is producing. The most impactful thing we could do to upgrade the team is to find an everyday 1B.

Let's see the Yankees try to trade Sabathia right now. How about the Cubs success at trading Soriano. After one season, Detroit was able to get out of the Fielder deal by obtaining a lesser player and paying millions of Fielder's contract. Texas had to pay most of A-Rod's salary in order to get the free-spending Yankees to make a trade for him. It's not easy to unload a monster deal, and even moreso if the player is not playing like a star. Even with the HGH scandal, I still love Braun, but I could see him turning into our "Soriano" as he gets paid more as he regresses. Soriano was still a decent player for the Cubs, but he was paid more than he was worth, and his salary ate up a large portion of the budgeted payroll. If Braun is his old .900+ OPS self, he'll be worth the $19MM he'll be paid. If his injuries and age turn him into an .800 OPS guy, he'll still be above average, but won't be worth nearly the $19MM/year he'll be paid. Add another under-performing $20MM player combined with draining the farm, and we'll be hard-pressed to win anything. I'd rather stick with our current guys, and roll the dice on Nelson, who appears MLB ready than trade away the farm (including Nelson) for Price. If we made the trade and don't extend him, we gave up a lot of future for 1.5 years. If we could extend him, there is tremendous risk that the contract would sink us if Price didn't continue to be one of the best pitchers in the game. I'm wary of any monster contract for the Brewers, but if they are going to do one, I hope it will be one that takes the player to their mid-30s, not their late 30's/early 40's.

a young defensive stud at SS who's starting to hit and is very young for his level Arcia should be on the Brewers' "untouchable" list. Segura is still very young, and I'm not sure what we have in him, but people are able to dismiss his complete lack of offensive production for the time being because most of our other players are hitting well, he's extremely cheap, and he plays good defense at a premium position. If his hitting woes continue, it'll be a problem, especially when he hits arby and starts getting more expensive. I'm very happy to have someone in the minors who should be MLB ready around the time that happens. If Segura finds his bat and returns to All Star form while we have a MLB-ready Arcia... well, that's a good problem to have. Our "excess" pieces I wouldn't mind seeing traded would be in the OF, or a SP not named Nelson. We have a few decent OF prospects, one of which could be packaged with one of our near-MLB-ready SP to make a deal for someone like Morneau, who plays the position that really needs to get upgraded ASAP.

Only a need because apparently the starting outfielders can't handle the workload. One seems to go down every other day. If they aren't running into each other or foolishly sliding head first or swinging so hard they pull something, they'll find something that keeps them out for a few days. Somebody tell them Advil is approved by MLB. Braun has always missed time with various injuries, and I suspect the HGH use was to help keep him on the field. Without it, he's definitely going to miss some time with things like oblique strains, and his thumb may never be right. He's probably best served getting a day or two a week off, but that isn't likely to happen. Gomez has an extremely violent swing. He is also very daring in the field. That combo is what has him starting in the All Star game, but also could lead to injuries. I'm surprised his back hasn't snapped :-) These guys are two of our best players, and are a big part of the reason we're in first place, but I think we need to have a capable backup for them. We have some options in house, but keeping two guys who only play 2B and a backup who only plays 1B means we can't have two backup OF, so the backup we have has to be able to play CF. But, above all, getting an everyday 1B would be the biggest upgrade we could make. Morneau has to be on the Brewers' radar... he would be a great pickup.

What would it take from the Brewers? Segura, one of Peralta or Nelson, Jungman, Bradley & Coulter for Tulo? I don't see the Brewers being in on any trade for someone like Tulo, but your post does make me wonder what Segura's trade value is right now. Do other teams see the poor numbers and run, or do they still look at his potential? I would have to think that trading him at this point would be a definite "sell low." I'm not even going to bother to argue that Coulter has the ability to stay behind the plate right now, but I am really curious as to why people(some people) seem to think it's either Catcher, or 1st base for him? Yeah, I thought the speculation was that if he can't stick at catcher, he would be moved to third base or maybe RF. He's supposed to be athletic with a strong arm. I've just heard that he doesn't have "catcher instincts," and that it may take a long time to get him through the system at catcher (if he could make it to the MLB at catcher at all). He'd move much more quickly at another position. Either way, he's got a strong bat, and that is what's going to determine if he makes the big leagues, regardless of what position he's playing.

that Franchise Talent like Price/Shields are out there for the taking in trade Thanks for bringing up Shields. They got Wil Myers, Odorizzi + for him. At the time, Myers was a top five prospect, and he was MLB ready. Who is our Wil Myers that we could give them to bring back Price? Even if we put Nelson in the deal, it wouldn't be enough to get Price, and I don't want to add Nelson to any deal, as he will hopefully be an inexpensive mainstay in our rotation for the next six seasons. In order for us to get Price, we'd have to dig into the MLB roster, and since we're not going to do that, we should probably stop dreaming of trading for Price, and set our sights on more attainable players at positions of need, like Morneau.

I wouldn't worry too much about having too much talent at one position at this point in time. Arcia is 20 next month, Gatewood is 18, and Lara is 16. Even if they all reach their potential and become regular MLB starters, there is plenty of time before the Brewers will have to worry about making room for all of them on the MLB roster. It does add talent to the system, giving us options for the future, which is always a good thing.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mil/brewers-lock-up-star-international-prospect-gilbert-lara?ymd=20140628&content_id=82057432&vkey=news_mil Brewers' own site confirms the signing

Seth Smith was just extended, so he's not getting traded.

Nah, they'd just put Nelson in the pen to "get his feet wet at the MLB level in low leverage situations."

I don't think anyone other than a few MLB GMs can answer your question. If I were the Rockies, I would probably kick the tires to see what's out there in trade, but I wouldn't give him away. If someone steps up and makes a good offer, then I'd bite. There's a lack of good first basemen in the majors right now, and most of them aren't on the market. That puts the Rockies in the drivers' seat, so anyone who wants to low-ball them by saying "look what he did last year," will probably not get very far. He would be a big pick-up for the Brewers, but I wouldn't give up Nelson for him. That pretty much means we could offer some combo of Taylor, Williams, Arcia, Haniger, Jungmann, etc. Since our deepest positions on the farm are OF and SP, I'd probably offer Taylor or Haniger and Jungmann. That's probably not enough to get him, but I'd be hesitant to add anything else. Nelson and Arcia should be nearly untouchable for the Brewers, as Nelson should be in the rotation this year, and Arcia is our future "plan B" if Segura doesn't put it all together.

They wouldn't want Yo. Why trade Price for a package headlined by a lesser pitcher with 1.5 years remaining? They'd want a package built around several Top 100 prospects, with at least one guy who's a "can't miss." The Brewers don't have that, and even if one were to argue that Nelson is "can't miss" and some other guys are working their way to "Top 100" status, I don't want to trade six years of Nelson away now that he's MLB ready. I think our rotation upgrade will come when Nelson is past the Super 2 cutoff, and he replaces Estrada. Beyond that, barring injury, any trades will likely be to improve first base and/or the bench.

Beware of small sample statistics. Let us hope that Melvin/Ash/Roenicke recognize that 1B needs to be upgraded for the stretch run, despite whateer someone is hitting over the course of 20 games or whatever. Agree. About a month ago, posters were looking to trade Davis for an upgrade at LF, and demote Gennett to give Weeks the full-time 2B job.

I would trade Estrada and Kintzler for a good 1B man. So would everyone. The problem is finding someone to trade us a good 1B for Estrada and Kintzler. I've been a big proponent of Estrada, but right now his trade value has to be around zero.

Braun playing CF and Reynolds playing RF didn't hurt at the time, IIRC. The net runs lost due to that was 0. It could potentially hurt the team if either of those (or other players) had to play out of position long term, but it didn't cost them any runs yesterday. It just showcased the lack of flexibility on the bench. Overbay can only backup 1B, Weeks can only backup 2B, Maldonado is a catcher, and that left every other position on the field to be backed up by Herrera. There's no perfect mix that is right for every situation, but we already have inflexibility and having the eight-man bullpen made the problem worse. I like a bench made up of guys who are really good at something. That's why Bianchi doesn't bother me as much as he bothers some. He is an excellent defender at every IF position. With a "traditional" bench (OF who can play CF, OF who is a better hitter, defensive IF who can backup all positions, corner IF who can hit, and a C), Bianchi makes sense as the backup MI/defensive whiz. I don't really like Herrera because he's not really good at anything... he just fit into this year's Brewers because they've had need for a "jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none."

Agree that St Louis could make a bid for them, but I think they'd be more interested in winning the division so that they win the division moreso than winning the division so that the Brewers don't :-)

I don't know that we have the talent on the farm to get Price. Now, if we want to look into trading guys like Gomez, Braun, Segura, and Lucroy, then we could trade for anyone, but since those guys aren't going to be traded, I don't think we could put together the best deal for Price. Nelson's having a great year, and we are starting to get some "upside" in the lower levels, but we still have a deficit of star power in the minors, and if Tampa trades Price, they will be looking for multiple prospects with star potential.

Padres pending free agents (2014 salary) per Cot's Chase Headley 3B ($10,525,000) Huston Street RHP ($7,000,000 with $7M club option for 2015) Seth Smith OF ($4,500,000) Nick Hundley C ($4,000,000 with option for 2015) Chris Denorfia OF ($2,250,000) Tim Stauffer RHP ($1,600,000) Xavier Nady 1b/OF ($775,000) From the Padres website: "Team President and CEO Mike Dee said the search for a new GM "begins immediately." And while Hinch and Minaya will certainly merit consideration, there seems to be a sentiment that the hire will come from the outside -- and, quite possibly, could occur soon." I doubt the interim GMs will be allowed to do too much, as the team will want the new GM to be able to make his own moves. Therefore, I would take anything Minaya says about their future plans with a grain of salt. That said, I don't see a really good fit. Headley is expensive and isn't hitting. He may be an option if Ramirez were to go down and we were desperate, but not if Ramirez is healthy. Seth Smith is hitting well... so well that he's not going somewhere to be a backup corner OF. He is 32 and he has never played a game at first base in either the majors or the minors. Since Braun has never played 1b, and last year Davis said he couldn't play there, I don't see the Brewers picking him up to fill the hole at 1B. We've already got two catchers who are better than Hundley, and Reynolds is a better option for a RH hitting 1B than Nady. My best fit would be Denorfia, as the Brewers haven't had a lot of luck with backup OFs this year. While Denorfia has a .649 OPS this season, he is a career .740 OPS guy. If he could be had cheaply, he could be a minor mid-season pickup. I guess it's possible they clean house and trade guys like Alonso or Maybin who are signed for a few more years, but I think it's more likely they just look to rid themselves of some salary that's leaving via free agency after the season. I doubt they're looking at trading for a guy like Estrada, but if they are looking at trading guys like Alonso and Maybin, then Estrada would certainly not have any value to them.

The "problem" with the current Brewers roster is in how to upgrade. We could upgrade SP, but why pay the price when SP has been a strength, and we have depth. Davis and Gennett both project to be decent MLB players. Not stars, but decent players. The only way an upgrade would make sense there is to bring in a really good MLB player, and that player would be prohibitively expensive (in money and prospects). You're not upgrading CF, RF or C, as they're all star players. Our SS is young and we are going to stick with him. 3B is covered as long as Ramirez stays healthy (which has become more iffy in the recent past). We're not going to pay what it would cost to bring in a good 3B on the off chance Ramirez gets injured. That leaves 1B and there doesn't appear to be a lot of good 1B on the market. I guess an ideal situation if we feel the need to "buy" this season would be to find a 1B who could take over 3B next year. That's not an easy thing to find, but Prado would probably fit that bill if Arizona was looking to trade him, and if the Brewers could both find the pieces needed to trade for him and afford his salary. More likely is they find a 4th OF (I don't like Herrera and apparently he's beat out our other in-house options), or an upgrade to Overbay.

If I were the D-Backs GM and was looking to trade Goldschmidt, I would look to a team with several guys of Nelson's caliber or better and ask for all of them. If the Brewers want to pick up a really good player in trade, there is no way they're going to do it without adding Nelson. Even with Nelson, assuming they're not going to trade key guys from the MLB roster, it's unlikely they would be able to pick up an MVP-caliber player like Goldschmidt.

We got him on a really good deal for his prime years. Let someone else give him huge money for his decline years.

Probably a fantasy but that would be great. Loney/Zobrist would be a significant upgrade over Overbay and Falu/Schafer You're probably right about fantasy but you are definitely right that it would be great. Moving Weeks would have to be a key in that deal, whether to them or someone else or even FA, because Zobrist would have to be slotted into 2B with Gennett and then Zobrist would fill in against righties at SS, LF, RF. If we were to trade for Zobrist, I would have to think that Gennett would be headed to Tampa in the trade and Zobrist would be our everyday 2B. I don't think I'd do that deal, but I can't imagine that we would give up what it would take to get 1.5 years of one of the better 2B in the game for the past eight seasons and put him on the bench. Meanwhile, if Tampa's trading Zobrist, they're going to ask for young, controlled players in return. Weeks does not fit that bill, but Gennett does. They're certainly not going to give him away for our second tier minor leaguers.