The Brewers are the talk of Major League Baseball at present, having pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Christian Yelich and agreed to a five-year deal with Lorenzo Cain in a span of mere hours. Milwaukee is hardly done for the offseason, though, and reports from Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link) highlight the various avenues they can take toward further improvement.
Milwaukee is shopping outfielders Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton as it looks for an upgrade to its rotation, according to Nightengale. Rosenthal suggests a bit more softly that the Brewers are open to offers on Santana but aren’t eager to trade him, hoping instead to at times run out an outfield of Yelich, Cain and Santana. The organization has discussed the idea of utilizing Ryan Braun at first base on occasion, Rosenthal adds. While Yelich, Cain, Santana, Braun and Eric Thames make five players for four spots, though certainly that depth wouldn’t be a bad thing for the Brewers to carry into the 2018 season.
Broxton, it seems, is something of an odd man out following yesterday’s acquisitions. The 27-year-old served as the Brewers’ primary center fielder in 2017 and hit .220/.299/.420 with 20 homers and 21 steals through 463 plate appearances. Broxton, though, also struck out at a staggering 37.8 percent clip and delivered mixed results in the outfield. Both Defensive Runs Saved (-7) and Ultimate Zone Rating (-2.2) considered him below average, whereas Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric credited him at +9 outs, ranking him among the game’s 15 best overall outfielders.
Broxton certainly has his warts, but the 27-year-old is controllable through the 2022 season and won’t even be arbitration-eligible until next offseason at the earliest (when he’s likely to be a Super Two player). In many regards, he fits the criteria of what the Giants are looking for in a minimum-salary center field option. He’s also out of minor league options, so if he’s not going to play a role on the Brewers in 2018, he figures to be traded.
Santana, meanwhile, is controlled through the 2021 season and is coming off an excellent season in which he batted .278/.371/.505 with 30 homers and 29 doubles. His superior production in 2017 would assuredly make him a costlier asset in trade talks with the Brewers, though he’s also a vastly superior asset for the Brewers when attempting to pry a big league starter away from clubs in trade talks.
Brett Phillips stands out as another potentially available outfielder currently in the Brewers’ mix. The 23-year-old hit .276/.351/.448 with four homers and five steals through 98 PAs as a rookie this past season, though like Broxton, he struggled with a sky-high strikeout rate (34.7 percent). The strikeout woes weren’t limited to that brief MLB exposure, either, as Phillips whiffed at a 29.9 percent clip in the minors, too. He also posted BABIP marks north of .400 in both the Majors and Triple-A in 2017, suggesting that his production was somewhat overstated. Nonetheless, the former top prospect should draw interest, as he’s controllable all the way through 2023 and does have minor league options remaining.
While the Brewers’ now considerable outfield surplus makes the possibility of a trade fairly obvious, the team could also still pursue starters on the free-agent market. Rosenthal characterizes a signing of Yu Darvish or Alex Cobb as unlikely, though the market for starters has been stagnant to the point that nearly every lower-tier option remains available for the Brewers to explore.
Yup. It will be interesting to see what happens with Braun and Santana. On the one hand Braun could move the first base and hopefully avoid those small injuries that seem to plague him every season. On the other hand, Santana does strike out a bit more than you’d like, and he doesn’t project to improve much in that department.
This is exactly why the NL could benefit from having a DH. It gives abs for players like Santana and Phillips who are still under development. Just sayin
Nice thought, but MLB won’t implement DH just so they can give extra at bats to those classified as “Under Development.”
If such a thing were done, it would likely increase the amount of pinch-hitters because when those underdeveloped come to bat during a crucial situation of the game, managers likely will deploy members of the bench instead.
I don’t think it would change any more than in the American league game. If you take out the dh you have to make a pitching change. I’m completely against having g the dh at all and hope that if they did make it for both leagues they would tweak the system. Like the starting dh comes out when the fielder he’s designated too does
Thames to Indians for Salazar or Broxton and Thames to KC for Duffy
if they could somehow still keep Santana while getting another SP I’d be super impressed. he’s their best trade piece that would get the best pitcher but I’d be ok with moving broxton and thames together.
How many SP do brewers need? 1? 2 ?
I would say one. When Nelson gets back they would have a decision to make if they add two. I would think Nelson/Davies/Anderson and Chacin are locks this year
Right now it’s Anderson/Davies/Chacin as locks. Suter, Guerra, Woodruff and Gallardo (probably in that order) for #4 & #5, and those two battling to stay in the rotation when Nelson comes back.
LOL. Yeah, maybe if their goal is to hang around the WC race they can get away with one. But if they’re really going for it, they need a fairly complete pitching staff replacement. For one thing, the history of guys coming back from serious shoulder injuries is — on the optimistic end — a year of so-so results before full strength returns. Davies and Anderson are mid-rotation at best. Chacin was a Petco fluke, and their depth is really, really young. That’s not remotely a championship rotation. I have serious questions about their pen too. They overperformed last year and I like Knebel, but there’s a frightening lack of consistency among that crowd. They have a ways to go if they’re really gonna push their chips in.
Anderson had a 2.74 ERS. Who’s “mid-rotation” has that quality of a guy? He’s a #2, becomes a #1 if he can duplicate last year’s production. They need a #1, I would agree, but if you add another #1 type option, that rotation is stacked with 3 #1/#2 type pitchers (Nelson, Anderson). yes Nelson is coming off injury, but it wasn’t Tommy John which is what usually takes a toll in production in the first year. By all accounts, Nelson’s recovery is faster than expected and is throwing soon if not already.
They had the 10th best SP ERA in all of baseball last year, and did that while starters like Guerra, Peralta and Garza got destroyed half the time.
Eliminating those starters already puts them in a better position to be a playoff team, and while they should probably add to their SP rotation, it’s NOT a glaring weakness.
Chacin was a Petco fluke? You do realize he produced in Coors right? Does that mean Lester is a mid level rotation guy? Had the same era and less wins than Davies last year. If we add a legit ace and Nelson takes time to get back up our rotation would still be solid. Ace/Anderson/Nelson/Davies/Chacin is a better 1-5 than most teams. We do need pen help (hopefully a set up arm) and 2B I agree. But we won 86 games last year with a worse offense and Peralta/Garza on the staff. Come on man get a clue.
“Davies and Anderson are mid rotation at best”. What are you basing this on? Take a closer look at the stats.
ERA isn’t a useful stat and wins are irrelevant. The rotation and bullpen still isn’t as good as the cubs or cards.
Just because you don’t use a stat doesn’t make it useless or irrelevant. Some people use them and they are not wrong for doing so. They are just looking at things differently than you.
era is a very useful stat it’s not the be-all end-all and you should look at things like fip as well but still a very important stat to look at
Guerra is the wild card. If he returned to his 2016 form, they wouldn’t need another arm.
Don’t you think you should tap the brakes a little on Anderson? He had a very nice season last year, but I don’t think I can claim someone is a definite 2 working on 1 status after one 25 start season with an ERA south of 3.00. He’s also thirty, which doesn’t bode well for a higher ceiling. I think he has to be considered a mid level three at best right now until he proves himself capable of staying healthy and relating his 2017 numbers.
Or maybe he just figured it all out at this stage in his career. Besides it wasn’t just one full season. His second half of 2016 was just as solid.
That is not even a serious offer for an established quality ML SP.
Broxton and Thames might get the Brewers a back of the rotation guy but they needed Yellich and Cain because to be totally honest their OF was really not that good, especially from an offensive stand point.
Santana and thames to Cleveland for Salazar and maybe kipnis. or throw in an extra prospect to beef it up.
Don’t think Cleveland has any use for Thames, but a Santana/Salazar deal seems logical.
Brewers would not do Santana straight up for Salazar. My guess is it would take a solid prospect from the Cleveland side to get that deal done. Or Kip/Salazar for Santana/prospect.
If I were the indians I would do the Santana for Salazar/Kipnis if the brewers would take most or all or Kipnis contract. Saves them around 20 million this year and next. They could turn around and offer a competitive deal for JD Martinez. I know it’s a long shot that both these things happen but it gives Cleveland a much improved outfield as well as some stability with Brantley and Chisenhal both being free agents and a better right/left balance.
Thing is, the Brewers do have the salary space available for the next two seasons. Most of what appears to be the core with be in the middle of their arbitration years in 2020, so ’18 & ’19 has some room.
If they took Broxton instead for Salazar/Kipnis with the Brewers picking up all of Kipnis’ salary…
Why would KC want Thames or Broxton lol
Broxton is cheap and under team control through 2022. He also did go 20-20 last year with solid defense in CF. not to mention the salary dump they would get by moving Duffy. Especially since they won’t contend any time soon.
KC isn’t trading Duffy for a salary dump. lol. They can get good prospects for him
So they are going to keep 4yr/60M on the books while they don’t contend for that entire contract? Look at the return Cole brought. Duffy won’t match that return and cole’s wasn’t great to begin with. Broxton/prospect is probably the best Duffy will return
They would need to throw in Brett Phillips to make the offer better. Broxton right now is a drop or a bench player value. With so few starters on the market KC would get a much better offer than Broxton.
Not sure that Broxton is a solid defender. FanGraphs shows him have a -0.6 defensive WAR last year. That’s pretty weak.
“whereas Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric credited him at +9 outs, ranking him among the game’s 15 best overall outfielders.”
So it really depends on the source….
I’m a Brewers fan but you’re being a homer. Broxton has very little value. He strikes out a ton and his defense isn’t good
Broxton is cheap but he’s Carlos Gomez when Gomez was a Twin. Some team has to be willing to roll the dice with him and still be patient with his development like the Brewers were with Gomez.
I’m sorry that is completely ridiculous games is pretty much worth while he’s being paid for and Broxton has less value than Randal grichuk who was just traded for almost nothing
A decent bullpen arm and a pitching prospect who routinely hits 100 mph is not almost nothing.
Thames won’t return anything close to Salazar in a trade.
Lol! Good one.
Indians recently signed Yonder Alonso, lefty-hitting 1B. Thames is redundant.
I don’t see the value in Thames or Broxton, Thames had a career year at age 31 and there is no indication that he will continue to trend upward. Broxton at 27 years of age doesn’t seem like a good investment. Low BA, OBA and at the best average fielding. Santana also had a career year and he could be trending up. He has always had a strong OBA, even with a league average BA. I can understand why Milwaukee made the moves they did and applaud them for it, but I don’t think their cast offs are worth frontline pitching.
Broxton trade value is more like Odorizzi range
Not even close. Broxton is worth a B prospect. There are dozens of Keon Broxtons bumming around AAA and rebuilding teams.
Maybe Keon for Kershaw
Do the Giants have a starter to trade them?
Not really. Unless they’re willing to part with Beede and Milwaukee wants to take a chance on an unproven prospect. I’m sure they would gladly give up Shark if Milwaukee would take on his contract.
The only possible fit I see there is Shark/Braun. Trading terrible contracts.
If there’s anything the Giants need, it’s more corner outfielders.
SF is trying to stay under the luxury tax so they want to get rid of Shark to free up money, taking on Brauns contract or even splitting the difference doesn’t help them do that. They want a cheap CF that keeps them under the tax threshold, perfect fit for Keon or Phillips.
But they have nothing to send back to Milwaukee.
Could you imagine a lineup with Braun, Longo, McCutchen, Posey, Panda, Pence…. if only it was 2012 again.
Beede and another prospect? Beede has fallen down prospect lists, but still projects as a middle or end of rotation starter and is MLB ready.
Shark was actually a pretty good pitcher last year. The Giants would only deplete their starting pitching more (they need two starters as it is). Braun wouldn’t be who they would want – it would be Santana or Broxton.
I’m not sure if Beede is enough of an improvement over Suter to make that move. I think Beede will turn into a 3-5 starter in the bigs in due time but I think the Brewers are looking for a clear upgrade to bump Suter
They’re probably not getting a clear upgrade over Suter for Broxton though. Beede at least gives them another option or more depth to trade from. If they want an improvement it’s going to have to be Santana moved.
Here we go again with the “shark isn’t that bad talk”. You are actually delusional enough to believe the Giants wouldn’t give him away to any team willing to take on his contract.
Hate to tell you this but a few teams asked about Shark this off season. He is a back up plan for teams not getting one of the FA starters. Of course they couldn’t get prospects for him but they could trade him for a fringe player and not needing to send over any money.
With three years and $57 million remaining, the Jeff Samardzija contract is a good one.
Last season Samardzija ranked 15th among all pitchers in fWAR, one slot ahead of Yu Darivsh, who has been projected to land a six-year, $160 million contract.
Samardzija has posted 6.5 fWAR, valued at $61.6 million, in the first two years of his five-year, $90 million contract with the Giants.
Steamer projects 2018 WAR of 3.5 in 202 innings for Samardzija and 3.6 in 179 innings for Darivsh. Steamer projects Braun with a 2018 WAR of 1.5 in 522 plate appearances.
You are really going to use projections to argue why he has a good contract? Projections dont mean anything. Also WAR for pitchers is extremely flawed. Look at the difference between fWAR and bWAR. Of course fWAR loves samardzija because he doesn’t walk guys. Look at how bad he is when teams put the ball in play. He is an innings eater who you cant count on for anything in october. No team has had him as a “backup” plan. Have you seen how slow this market is. There are so many better guys out there. Not a word has been said about shark. Last rumbling was in August the Astros were intrested. Thats it
You know this how?
Panda and Longo in same lineup?
Brilliant!
Giants aren’t gonna trade any starters. They could trade a reliever for broxton tho
FO wud never trade for anyone but Braun, others are way to young
Odorizzi for Santana straight up.
Can’t see the brewers giving up the 4 years of team control for only two of Odorizzi. Odorizzi also made 4.1M next year. Over his last two years he will be much more expensive compared to Santana
Desperation yields strange trades. I too see this as the most likely SP the Brewers can scare up.
What do you think Santana’s value will be as a 4th OF with a fraction of AB’s?
I’d think Odor’s value is easily a backend top 100 spect + and this would be decent building blocks. Maybe another smaller piece from the Rays (not Hu, Yarby, Yonny..maybe something like York, Wood, etc).
lol that’s hilarious. 2 years of a back end of the rotation pitcher for 4 years of control of a borderline All-start OFer
Santana isn’t that valuable. 2017 was the first time he’s looked remotely like that, and it came with an abnormally high BABiP (especially for a fly-ball hitter). He’s a terrible fielder. And corner outfielders are not in demand, even a little. I think Odorizzi is about right, maybe actually too much. Not sure he’d start in Tampa if they didn’t have a DH spot.
He’s 25, you act like he underperformed during prime years. I agree he is not a great defender, but its not farfetched to think he can duplicate last years batting numbers.
Wow you’re dumb. Just absolutely. Did you even bother looking at his career? Last year was his first extensive playing time. He played in 77 games in 2016 and played in 151 last year. No crap last year was the first year he put up good numbers. It was his first significant playing time. Come on man don’t be so ignorant.
So, this is what a back of the rotation starter numbers look like?
2013 – 3.89 FIP
2014 – 3.75 FIP
2015 – 3.61 FIP
2016 – 4.31 FIP
Rays fan here. Not at all fair to Brewers.Maybe Odorizzi and 1 AAA pitcher not named Honeywell ie. Chirinos or DeLeon or Hu or Yarbrough with options and ready to pitch in 2018
Odor + DeLeon for Santana, eh? This would be selling INCREDIBLY low on DeLeon…and a major overpay for the Rays! Why not just throw Adames in there as well. Also, might need to take into consideration the fact that every team in baseball knows the Brewers have a glut of OF’s, which shouldn’t exactly help get max value on a return…
Brewers can have Big Game James Shields
Hehehehe.
He only has one year left at 10 mil since padres paying balance. A fifth starter in NL ? Could do a lot worse
Good ol’ Big Frame James.
I can picture Hahn saying, “No. Really. Just have him. Here. Take him. We don’ t need anything. Just walk away. Go on.”
They should be looking at Archer, Fulmer, Duffy, Odorizzi and potentially Bailey (clearly a lower tear then the rest)
I really hope you aren’t referring to Homer Bailey..? The guy who is due 40M over two years and who has pitched to a combined 110 innings and 6 era over the last 3 years…please tell me there’s a Bailey I’m not thinking of lol
I couldn’t come up with any other active Bailey’s.
Sweetbreads Bailey is a pretty awesome name amongst the historical list though.
I don’t know why I put Bailey, I meant Straily
Thank goodness lol
Salazar is the best target. indians need OF help and he isn’t too expensive. both Archer and Fulmer would be too expensive prospect wise. Duffy is at $15 million per year now so I’d prefer not him.
No headliner there for an Archer or Fulmer trade.
Bailey isn’t really clear upgrade.
Post should say whether Santana is still pre-arb or whether he is Super 2 this year.
He is pre-arb. Super 2 next year.
If Sanatana was to be a Super Two, it would be for this coming season. After this season, he’ll start his regular three years of arbitration.
Yeah, brain cramp there on my part. Pre-arb.. Arb next year.
Trade Santana, Philips and Ortiz for Archer, sign Darvish and maybe even Lucroy on a two year deal.
Lol they don’t have Yankees money.
Could afford Darvish and Lucroy pretty easily I think. Lucroy is silly though. There is absolutely no need for him.
If Darvish gets $25MM per, they can afford him. Which isn’t to say they should do it, but they could.
They could afford his for two years. After that, not so much.
*And the Rays hang up the phone right away
Yeah, that’s a garbage offer for Archer. Brewers really don’t have a way to get Archer anymore I don’t think.
You can’t possibly think Archer brings a bigger return compared to Yelich. Two top 100 prospects, one that’s right on that top 100 edge and another would get Archer.
There are a good amount of teams who don’t even have 3 top 100 prospects to offer. To think the Rays wouldn’t be interested in a Santana/Ray/Ortiz/another prospect package is silly.
It’s a trash offer. Santana isn’t going to headline a deal for Chris Archer. That offer would get blown out of the water if Archer were truly on the market.
The Brewers could still get Archer but they’d have to give up Woodruff Huira and Burns and more
Forget it way to much for him.
While Lidocaine lobbies for the return of Luuuuuc behind the dish, I like the idea that we should NOT be content with Pina/Bandy/etc. as our catching situation. While I’d love to still pry JT Realmuto from The Captain’s fire sale of the Marlins, I would settle for a real #1 catcher at some point.
A Pena/Vogt platoon is a better catching situation than half the major league teams.
Would love this! Don’t see it happening, but we all can dream.
4 years of control of Santana will never start conversation for Archer. Try Septoocaine instead
The Giants should find a way to snag Broxton. I don’t know what they have as trade bait, though. Could they get him for bonus pool money?
No. Phillips still has options so they can just flip him down to AAA and hold onto Broxton for a while if need be. No need to give him up for bonus pool money.
What makes Broxton so valuable? I think more than bonus pool but not sure how much.
20-20 guy with 5 years of control left. Not saying he’s worth a ton, but definitely not worth giving up on for bonus pool money when they’re not really forced to move him to make a roster work.
lol bonus pool money. Thanks, I needed that laugh.
How did Giants team salary get so high? Whose contracts are dead wait in SF?
Shark, Cueto, Posey, Belt, Crawford, Pence all making over 15 mil Cutch, Longo, Bumgarner, Melancon all making over 12..
The Giants offered expensive, long-term contracts to too many veterans, such as the Shark. Teams are learning from this mistake and others, and that’s one of the reasons that the free agency market has changed this year. Smart GMs know that offering these kind of contracts are, at best, a 50/50 gamble. With pitchers, they don’t often payoff, and then you’re stuck with a veteran’s big contract that you can’t unload.
Matt Cain also had to be bought out for $7 million. But the Shark contract is not bad, let’s dispel this myth.
Giants would have to give up a reliever
If they need to flip an outfielder Santana could help bring back a good pitcher like archer (need to include more than him of course). I would say to flip Braun but he has almost no value and that contract would scare off a lot of potential trade partners so moving him wouldn’t be easy
plus Braun has full no trade and since Brewers will compete again no way he waives that. I don’t want them trying for Archer though. would have to give up significantly more than for Yelich including pitching prospects.
Duffy or fulmer ? Duffy would cost less than fulmer and he’s lefty which is always a good thing
I’d definitely prefer one of the guys that’s not as good as Archer. I mean the difference between Archer and one of those guys or Salazar from Cleveland isn’t something insane like 15 wins. if anything he’d give a few extra above them if that. offense will be super good so they don’t necessarily need an ace.
And whoever they trade for needs to be a substantial upgrade to Davies or Suter. And Duffy and Fulmer aren’t enough up an upgrade to justify a major package. Anything beyond Santana straight-up or with a toss-in prospect is too much.
They would still cost a fair amount
Duffy is expensive salary wise and Fulmer would be a big haul prospects wise.
Did you just say that Duffy/Fulmer aren’t clear upgrades to Suter/Davies? Lol, come on dude stop being a gomer
I would say upgrade to suter for sure but davies is very solid
AS I SAID IN MY COMMENT, it’s not enough of an upgrade to justify a major trade package. Anything beyond Santana straight up for Duffy or Fulmer is paying too much. I certainly wouldn’t include any prospects with Santana for either.
Are Duffy/Fulmer an upgrade to Suter/Davies? Yes. Are they enough of an upgrade (taking contract status into account) to be worth more than one of Santana/Broxton/Phillips? No.
Trade a package including Broxton or Santana (if Broxton, move Braun to 1B and go with OF of: Yelich, Cain, Santana) along with pitching prospect(s) for Archer, sign Darvish, deal for Yolmer Sanchez to play 2B, and sign Lucroy.
boo….stay away from Archer. not worth the extra prospect capital. go with Salazar or Duffy and could get away with just Santana and another prospect or possibly avoid losing Santana all together.
There you go. I guess I mean any controllable pitcher. I just kinda use Archer as an example.
WSox should trade you yolmer Sanchez and shield solving 5 th starter and 2b ?
I wouldn’t rule out trading for a controllable RP either. If they get a solid setup man they could move Hader into the rotation.
Broxton for Hunter Strickland.
Only if the Brewers want to end the Nationals streak of first round exits.
Jesse Hahn for Keon Broxton
Can Thames play third base? I’d like to see a trade with Atlanta, Santana and Thames for Tearhan,Kazmir and a pitching prospect!
As a Braves fan that trade makes no sense for the Brewers. No telling what Kaz will do, and as much as I like Julio he wouldn’t be the ace of the staff, more like a #3 who could eat up 200 innings. Yes that has value but not enough. Think bigger
It wouldn’t be that complicated. Teheran for Santana is the core deal. Maybe some small parts to even things out.
My thought as well.
Why should they trade Santana?
Cause they need a SP and he’s the only piece with value. Braun is going nowhere and Keon and Phillips don’t get you enough in return.
I don’t see them moving more outfielders after Miami deal, and assume Braun is staying. Brewers pitching is not that bad, and now with clearly more offense/defense. I think they start season as is, maybe shoot for pitching at the deadline.
Why keep Santana as a 4th outfielder? That’s a waste IMO. Better to have Phillips or even Broxton as the 4th guy, but I’d say Santana and one of them are as good as gone. They could send Mav to CO Springs, but that would be a head-scratcher of sorts since he’s proved he’s ready for the show.
I think this really comes down to Braun and just taking the hit on payroll. Put Santana in as the 2/3 starter and see if Braun can produce elsewhere and pinch hitter on off days.
love the prof. pic, dude! jamiroquai is awesome
I was trying to think of what SP might be available in a trade. If SF is willing to deal Shark for a CF then Broxton makes sense for them. Duffy potentially? Maybe call the Phillies on Helickson?
The Giants would have to pick up a bunch of Samardzija’s contract. Probably at least $20M-$30M worth.
Isn’t Hellickson a FA?
Santana to the M’s for Erasmo Ramirez and Marco Gonzalez, or Mike Leake. Two potential starters for this year, Ramirez as more of a stop-gap, and Gonzalez and a young controllable asset to match Santana’s 4-years of control. Santana or Haniger can transition to left field.
So. Seattle has an outfield of Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia platooning in left, with Dee Gordon in Center, and Mitch Haniger in right. Haniger had a solid rookie season, and Gamel/Heredia deserve the chance to play. Meanwhile, Santana can’t play defense, and the Marines just don’t have a need for them. Meanwhile, if their rotation already isn’t in not so great shape, you’re asking them to give up 1 of their projected 5? Like. Come on.
Santana, Broxton, Ortiz, lower guy for Duffy and Merrifield and we’re done!
And the dude that laughs like an idiot
Maybe if you took out Merrifield, and added in another prospect from The Brewers.
I think the brewers will sign a SP, keep Santana, and send Broxton to SF for a couple mid-tier minor league pitchers. Broxton isn’t going to bring enough, but he will be the odd man out.
Seems unlikely now that Darvish or Arrietta will sign with the Brewers. Their payroll now projected at $80M or higher with Cain signing, so a trade is more likely. Maybe a year away from crossing the $100 MM threshold. Only way to free up big FA money is to trade away Braun — nobody would be sorry to see Santana/Yelich/Cain (and Phillips backup) outfield anyway.
Braun has full no trade
Brewers ownership is willing to spend if it will produce results and they have done so in the past. As long as it’s spent right they’d probably be willing to get it up to $125-$130 million.
Though I doubt they’d think that adding all of that in offseason would be spending it the right way.
I would keep Santana and sign one of the top 4 pitchers and trade Broxstn then you put Santana at RF Yelich at LF Cain IN CF and Phillips as the 4th OF Braun to 1st and Thames plays 1B and OF because Braun will be injured for part of the season
I am jealous of this depth “problem” that the Brewers are dealing with, as a Mariners fan. To be able to send your top prospect for one of the most underrated and cost-controlled OFs in today’s game and still have surplus to sign another underrated OF, then trade ANOTHER one for pitching is just bonkers. That’s a solid club.
Los teléfonos están sonando!
What about Jesus Aguilar? I don’t know what the more advanced metrics say, but with his part-time numbers last year and in minors you would think they’d want to trade him or get him more reps at first.
Yes
I looked at his splits, and I think The Brewers would want to keep him. Aguilar crushes lefties (.301/.365/.524) and really is a good platoon guy with the lefty Thames. Plus, Aguilar hit well with runners in scoring position, with a 312 average. That’s a nice player you can platoon with at first, and bring off the bench when you need to drive in a clutch run late in the game.
Yeah that makes perfect sense to me. But with Braun potentially playing first as well that will really clog up playing time. But I guess that’s a great problem to have for the Brewers haha…if only we were so lucky.
All these moves and still won’t beat the cubs lol
The Red Sox should try to get Santana and waive bye-bye to JD and Boras.
Braun for porcello; Sox get a DH/4th OF; Mil get durable ex-cy for 2/$42; Mil might even have to toss a prospect into the deal
That’s an interesting concept if Boston then signs a SP, and assuming Braun is willing to go
As a Brewers fan I agree but the red Sox don’t have a ton to send back. They definitely aren’t sending back a 2B so they’d have to send a pitcher, and with Price being a question mark I don’t see that happening.
I agree. Ed Rodriguez, Steven Wright and Chavis for Santana. Sox sign Yu or Arrieta. Much better rotation and power bat for same or less money than JD.
Teahran & Vizzy for Santana & Villar
Sign Lance Lynn, and trade from your glut of outfielders, and farm system for Duffy.
What do the Brewers need decent starters for? Just get crummy fly ball pitchers and put your 11 outfielders to work.
Broxton is a windmill and he’s out of options,he’s not going to bring back much in return.
Santana isn’t enough to build a deal around for Archer unless Erceg and Burnes and/or Ortiz are in the package.They;’ll have to trade as much or more than they did for Yelich to get Archer.
Salazar for Santana is pretty even,but I don’t think the Indians want to trade away pitching depth.
Francisco Mejia could be available for the right package though..
Brew Crew made some bold deals,but signing Cain has painted them into a bit of a corner ,Stearns has got some more dancing to do that’s for sure.
starting pitching depth is exactly what Cleveland should trade from. they need a guy like Santana. Brewers should throw in another prospect or even a mlb player like Aguilar or thames or someone low and take on kipnis and his contract.
Wonder if a pkg with Broxton, Domingo or Thames plus gets TB’s attention for an Archer trade. Not sure the LoCain signing was a great one for a smaller market team unless there is an existing OF another team wants (Domingo)? to attain a SP Brewers want
I agree. LoCain was also to expensive for his age and skill set. That money would have been better spent on a top quality starter. Cain is good but not 80mil good for a guy known for his speed which usually declines after 30. But for them to grab one other starter, they need to package Keon with someone else, because Keon straight up wouldn’t being back a viable 3rd starter.
They really need to keep Domingo. Can anyone really guarantee the health of Braun and Thames for a full year? I’d say go with the 5 guys for 4 spots. And have Phillips as a AAA everyday guy knowing he can come up and produce if there’s an injury (there always is). Broxton won’t net them a top of the rotation starter that they desperately need to get to TE playoffs. I feel like they went all in to compete for a wild card. So they need to sign Darvish or Arreta. Even tho the contract will b awful 3-4 years from now.
Santana for Teheran, Kaz, and some money or Just Teheran and lower level prospect/someone from the pen.. Teheran will get out of Suntrust which he badly needs. Controllable and would do well in Miller.
I like the framework of Santana and Teheran but no way the Brewers want or will take on Kaz.
At best brewers would have to give Broxton quality reps on the outfield to build trade value for a mid season trade. As it is now, they aren’t getting any takers unless he’s packaged with someone like Braun. His defense in the outfield isn’t in the best, so who knows how first base will be. But this outfield isn’t going to do them any good if they can’t get pitching
I think the Brewers strategy is to get all of the outfielders….because hey, the other teams can’t win without outfielders.
Hahah it’s like The Onion’s article where the Yankees signed every player in the game. Now the Brewers are doing it.
Wonder if the Brewers would be willing to part with
Burnes, Brett Phillips, Ponce, and Peralta for Brad Hand.
Phillips would definitely be a huge part of the padres in LF given his defense and the Brewers beef up their pen with an elite pen arm in Hand for 4 years which means they can move Hader to the rotation.
Which would allow the Padres to trade Jankowski or Cordero to the Giants to solve their CF issues (both are defensively capable), Maybe Cordero to the Giants and Jankowski to the Athletics
Trade Pirela to Indians since he can play 2B and corner OF.
holy good god would that be heavily favored to the Padres. three of Brewers top ten prospects for a dang reliever? no way. not like hand is like Rivera or Hoffman in their prime
3 of their top 10 prospects……with only burnes and phillips being top 100 prospects who are ranked above 70 according to BA. 74 and 80 or so. Not exactly elite by any means.
If thats too much for 4 years of brad hand whos become an elite pen arm and is locked in at 4, 7, 7.5, 10 mill salaries at age 27 then the brewers will never surpass the cubs the next couple years and might finish 3rd behind the cardinals if they are unable to acquire a TOR arm or 2.
The Brewers clearly do not think that their SP void can be filled by simply moving Hader to the rotation. The Brewers don’t need Hand so badly that they would trade for him unless they could get him for much less than he’s worth.
Which is why the brewers wont surpass the cubs if their approach is hope to get him at a price much less than hes worth. Thats how trades dont get done.
The brewers are 2 maybe 3 arms away from being legit contenders.
And those are TOR arms.
You could offer ray ortiz and others to the rays for archer or try odorizzi away for a less but still hefty haul.
You could try to convince the tigers to part with fulmer for ray ortiz woodruff or whatever itd take.
Unfortunately theres no TOR that wont completely dismantle that farm cause ray ortiz phillips woodruff burnes would he headliners.
Take Burnes off that list and then pick two of the remaining three. The Padres ain’t getting more than that for Hand. If they could, he would be gone already.
Kemp? Gone. Check!
Garcia? Gone. Check!
Jim Johnson? Gone. Check!
Teheran? Gone? No. ****
Please get rid of him already!
Man, these Brewer fans are getting ridiculous.
Let them have their fun in January.
Danny Salazar and another minor league pitcher from the Indians to Brewers for D. Santana. That would be nice
D-backs need an outfielder capable of playing CF. How about Patrick Corbin and Taylor Clarke for Phillips? Corbin has one year left on his contract and should garner a QO next winter. Taylor should be ready for debut by season’s end.
In my opinion the Brewers would be best served to just leave the outfield in tact. Move Braun to first and have a starting outfield of Yelich in left, Cain in center, and Santana in right with Broxton and Phillips as your 4&5 guys. Talented and young players surrounding an experienced center fielder with depth.
Then just move Perez to second and be done with it.
With the loaded back end of Cain’s contract it leaves room for the Brewers to just go out and sign a starting pitcher and reliever from the available free agents, and leaving all the talent in the Brewers farm system alone.
Lynn and a good middle reliever would be fine with me for about twenty million a year. That would take the Brewers to about 110 million for their 2018 payroll which has been the Brewers high water mark so far.
If they can do these things I would be very happy and content going into the start of the season.
Here is a good trade for both team!
Domingo Santana to the Red Sox, Brewers get prospect SP Brian Johnson
both teams get what they are looking for
Boston gets a power bat, and Milwaukee get a young good SP.
and Forget Boras and JD Martinez
That’s not an even trade at all.