If the Brewers shop star left fielder Ryan Braun this year, his contract will serve as a deterrent to many clubs, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, who adds that Braun’s wrist is also a concern (Twitter link). The Brewers scratched Braun from their game Saturday because of a sore right wrist, the severity of which is currently unknown. Notably, he has dealt with significant right thumb issues in past seasons. Braun, 32, is hitting a red-hot .367/.434/.586 with seven home runs in 143 plate appearances this season and has another five years and $76MM, including a $4MM buyout in 2021, remaining on his contract after 2016.
More from the National League:
- Outfielder Jorge Soler is one of the few Cubs performing poorly this season, and the 24-year-old was also a disappointment in 2015, but the organization isn’t concerned about his struggles. “Guys are asking Joe ’What do you need to see so you don’t give up on him?'” said president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “That’s absurd. If we had walked away from him last year we probably don’t get out of the Cardinals series… That’s how good he is capable of being.” Epstein went on to add that Soler’s “going to get plenty of at-bats, he’s going to get hot and he’s going to carry us.” Manager Joe Maddon is similarly bullish on Soler, stating, “If you put your scout’s hat on you’ll see what the eventual reward will look like.” As Epstein alluded to, the Cuba native had a remarkable two-game stretch in last fall’s NLDS, during which he went 4 for 4 with four walks and a pair of home runs in wins over the Cardinals. This year, though, he has hit just .174/.263/.267 with two homers in 99 PAs.
- Dodgers left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu will start a rehab assignment Sunday with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and throw two innings, reports Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links) . Manager Dave Roberts expects Ryu to need five rehab starts before rejoining the Dodgers. Ryu, who hasn’t appeared in a major league game since October 2014, is working his way back from May 2015 shoulder surgery.
- Injured Brewers reliever Sean Nolin looks poised to undergo Tommy John surgery, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The left-handed Nolin, whom the Brewers claimed off waivers from Oakland in February, has been on the shelf all season because of a UCL sprain.
I don’t see the issue with Braun’s contract. His offense has been very good, defense is an issue but under 20M for a near elite hitter is market value or even a bargain if he has some of his previous season.
The problem is committing 80M to a 32 year old outfielder thru his age 37 season while also giving up prospect value.
The good news is that he’s probably still on roids, so he should be able to keep this up throughout the entire contract.
The good news is you’re a moron and you contributed nothing to an adult conversation.
I would agree with that. But I would also think if the Brewers want something good or elite back for him, they will probably eat some salary too.
Not necessarily. The Rox got back a lot for Tulo by just agreeing to take back Jose Reyes’s shorter bad contract also. Reyes’ issues aside, that is better than just paying someone to go away, especially someone that is still of star quality. The Brewers might look into taking back a replaced contract around half of Braun’s value (Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier perhaps) and they should get back some nice prospects as well.
I could see a Braun for Crawford along with maybe Grant Holmes and maybe a couple of lesser prospects.
Ethier isn’t that bad of a contract. Did the Dodgers overpay yeah sure. The reason the overpay gets traction is because of the CC contract. Ethier is a good player just hasn’t been able to hit lefties. He’s valuable to the Dodgers. plus 10
I’m sure the Dodgers would be delighted to unload Crawford for just about anything, but even if they wanted to move Ethier, he is not really tradable now. Once he recovers from the broken leg, maybe, that’s still months off and likely not in time for his value to recover before the deadline. Braun might be arguably an elite hitter but he’s got an AL profile (defensive liability) and the AL contract (into his late 30s) to match. If he goes anywhere it will be to an AL team. Can’t imagine the Dodgers would be interested, even if it meant getting rid of some dead weight.
He projects for about 12 war throughout his contract, using a kind age curve. At 8mil per war that’s 96 mil, which barely leaves any surplus value, using a harder age curve he basically projects for no surplus. So you are looking at like a comp balance pick, or a prospect that’s outside the top 100. It would be very wise to at least pay the 14-15 mil he has left this year, maybe take on an expiring contract as well if possible so you don’t effect next year’s payroll and can at least get a top 100 prospect out of it. Now you can have teams competing to get a better package but that’s truly what he is worth.
I don’t get where this Braun contract being horrible and a detriment is coming from. Have people not seen the contracts being given out the past few years?
Justin Upton just got 6/133 and hasn’t given close to the production Braun has given in his career. I get that Upton is 5 years younger
You aren’t going to get a .900 OPS bat at Braun’s price without some worry that he’ll decline due to age or whatever.
I guess you could wait and try to sign Jose Bautista in the offseason but he’ll be 36 right after this season and even riskier and probably close to if not more expensive than Braun is.
Or just sign Josh Redd*ck who is younger
the dreaded josh redd*ck such a naughty name,
Is Josh Ridd*ck a bad word now?
The n@asty word catcher will flag it.
Justin Upton was also 28 years old
“Hasn’t given close to the production braun has” so the team acquiring him should pay for 2011 or 2012 braun(ped)? Makes no sense, the last 3 years braun ran a 122wRC+, last 3 years upton ran a 128wRC+. Upton is peak age, braun experiences regression in aging models next year.
The dodgers got some what of a decent return but had to eat like 30 million of Kemps deal Brewers will have to eat money for sure, unless they want a small return and the teams interested would probably be fewer.
They also traded with the second worst gm in baseball.
McCarthy is only a few days behind Ryu in the rehab schedule. They could both be back on the active roster within a week of each other. If all goes well, Stripling gets a ticket back to OKC and Wood goes to the pen.
Josh Reddick is not Ryan Braun though..I wouldn’t mind white Sox going after braun, but we need a lefty bat so I hoping it’s either Reddick or Cargo, preferably cargo. Even if his HR totals drip he still hits for a better average.
The White Sox don’t NEED a lefty bat. They just need another good hitter. I understand that it may look nice to have a L-R-L-R-L-etc split throughout the lineup, but it’s not necessary. Braun is absolutely killing it equally against righties and lefties, which is much more important than matching up a lefty hitter against a righty pitcher. The White Sox would be (or at least should be) perfectly fine with lining up righties in the middle of the order if they are Abreu, Frazier, and Braun.
That being said, I’d happily take any of the 3 (preferably whichever one comes cheapest).
Would love to see a Braun trade go down. For one they are fun, but also it will spur some movement. Could think of probably 4 teams he could fit.
Ryu and Prince Fielder have pretty similar stats
I would be willing to throw in $20-25MM plus take back a player who is overpaid through next year to get a better return. This means his new team will not be adding much if any salary this season and only have to cover about $15MM annually going forward.