adambr2

'He said parameters were established with the Rangers to allow time for the Brewers to scout certain players in their farm system and make a selection that likely will be another top prospect.' Tom H sounds optimistic that the PTBNL will be another big piece, not a lottery ticket or throw in...

You're the second person to post this and I literally have no idea what you're talking about. Right. Even if we had sent Lucroy to San Diego, it's entirely possible that someone within the Rangers front office may have had Internet access and been able to connect to Twitter and discover that we were still in fact interested in trading Lucroy.

*facepalm*

If we're having to repeat this process again next year, I could see Braun, Thornburg, Nelson, and Guerra all being major trade chips. Maybe Villar.

Brinson is great as a centerpiece. I did want Gallo, but Brinson has just as much upside, just a more diverse skill set. Brinson has not been very good this year, but he's been battling a sore shoulder. Bet he bounces back next year. He also probably wouldn't be available if he was putting up a 1.000 OPS again.

I wonder if it's the type of deal we had with Cleveland for CC years ago. 'Here's the list, if we make it far enough in the playoffs, you pick, if not, we pick.'

How Lara and Medieros could be ranked over Ray and Diaz right now is beyond me.

IMO Stearns did great today. We have plenty of quantity in our system, we needed some quality, and basically doubling our top 100 players did just that. Brinson immediately becomes the 1B to Arcia's 1A, or the other way around, it doesn't matter. We got two really good potential starting pitchers today which we desperately needed in our system. It's not just Hader anymore and then everyone else. A potential 5 tool CF, a passable starting catcher now, and two top 60 or so arms. And another player we don't know about yet. All for two good pen arms and a great catcher, but one we weren't going to keep after next season.

I think a boom or bust guy is a good fit in our system right now. We have a ton of players in our system with a 'good player' ceiling, not really any 'star player' ceiling. Anyway, I think Gallo at worst is another Branyan, which has value.

Hope this doesn't take them out on Lucroy.

Holy cow. Trade every reliever in our pen.

It's apparently based on one of the minor leaguers. I would think that the Reds may just ask for a different one...unless he's that important? Good point... Was just reported the deal might be off soon. If the issue is with one of the lower level ones, probably not a problem. If it's Nimmo, probably enough to kill the deal.

Those tricky Rangers...don't they know we have Matt Garza available?

I wonder if Texas is stalling while they see if they can still swing a big deal for starting picking from the Rays, with Lucroy being their backup option.

If I'm the Indians I tell the Brewers I will give them the same package of prospects plus a choice of 1 of 3 mid level guys to add in Thornburg to the deal. Make Lucroy's option a player option. That way when Lucroy denies the option the Indians could then QO him which he would deny. Pick up a first round pick in the 2017 draft. Can't do it anyway, need to be with the team for an entire season to pick up a comp pick.

Medical holdup on Jay Bruce to Mets trade. Lol. Why does anyone do business with the Mets?

The Mets are like the annoying ex you just can't shake.

Nimmo + throw ins? That's it?

I really don't think 'free swinger' is a fair description of Gallo IMO. He is very patient and gets on base. A high strikeout rate doesn't make a guy a free swinger.

I would think he would go to Colorado Springs til September.

Jeffress doesn't K 2 batters per inning like Miller and Chapman. That's the difference. Jeffress is a nice 162 game player. These teams, right or wrong, have perceived guys like Miller and Chapman to be massive difference-makers in the playoffs. Jeffress is "just a guy." He's a good one that will be valuable over the course of a season, but there are 30 Jeffresses in the league and another notch of 30 guys that aren't a ton worse. Chapman and Miller belong in a class of maybe 5 relievers. If given the choice of dumping a bunch of prospects for Chapman for 1 year or a "pretty good" reliever like Jeffress at a fairly affordable contract for 3.5 years, most of these title-hungry teams will pay even more for Chapman and try to fill in the void of finding a "solid" reliever next year. Relief pitching is a very year-to-year thing. The issue is that teams aren't willing to pay for the extra control. Most of them don't care enough about the 3 affordable years remaining to give up an extra prospect. They'll pay more for this year or add more to the pot if it's Miller...not Jeffress. Thornburg seems really underrated. He has a career ERA under 3 and if you look at his numbers this year, they're remarkably similar to Chapman. Now I'm certainly not saying he is comparable, and I realize what you are saying about the value of 'elite' relievers vs. 'very good' relievers. I don't agree with it, I think it's a major market inefficiency, because when you compare all the guys and break down the numbers, the differences aren't significant, but it doesn't matter what I think. It only matters what GMs think. That said, I do think our top relievers have good value; good enough to where one or more will be shipped as a significant package today, hopefully. We'll see.

Its not the end of the world if Luc isnt moved since we saw what Stearns was trying to get for him. It is very much the end of the world (overdramatic comment aside) if he doesnt capitalize on the elite reliever market though. FIFY. Look what Melancon went for (not much). It seems like Chapman, Miller, or a healthy Davis are the ones that will go for a crazy price. It seems that people are only obsessed with the elite relievers and otherwise will pay an expected price. That's true, but Jeffress has almost 2 consistent years under his belt now of being a high end closer. He's starting to establish a bit of a track record. Not a Chapman or Miller obviously, but Jeffress is hardly a guy who should be a blue light special. Especially with years of control left.

If we're hesitant to deal relievers, I can't understand why. Seems ideal in this market. I do want Gallo, but it'd be ideal to get some secondary pieces from Texas, not just Gallo + throw ins. If we have to include more than 1 reliever, so be it.

I love what we've gotten from Guerra this year, but I think we need to keep his accomplishments in perspective. There's a reason he spent 10 years in the minors and foreign leagues. Which is more likely - that he suddenly put it all together and turned into a frontline MLB starter at 31, or that he's having a really nice stretch (as we've seen in recent years from guys like Fiers and Jungmann), and will come back down to earth once teams see him a few times and the book on him gets clearer? I would say the former is possible, but the latter is much more likely. I think he's too valuable at this point to just be considered a throw-in, but if he significantly increases the value of a potential package, I'd definitely sell.

I like Perez as a super utility player, but not as the 3B of the future. I don't know if Gallo sticks at 3rd if he comes here, but I don't think Perez blocks anyone.