If we needed to acquire an ace, who is it?

[recte44]

Let's say for the sake of discussion that Sheets is out for an extended period of time. Everything about the way Melvin has put this team together for this season points to it being a "playoffs or bust" style season. With Sheets out, we need to acquire another top of the rotation starter.

 

Who's out there, who could we get? What could we give up?

 

Be realistic.

[Brewer Fever]

You're not going to get any team to part with a top of the rotation starter anytime soon given it's early and every team still thinks they have a shot. Of the teams most likely to come to the realization that this year won't be their year in a month or two, Texas comes to mind first. I think Kevin Millwood could get moved this year. That's about as best as I think will be made available. Face it, no true aces are likely to be moved, certainly no young ones. And with the wild card too many teams will go into the trade deadline and beyond before they concede this season. Bottom line, you're not going to get someone of Sheets calibur, but you might be able to plug his spot with a 2-3ish calibur starter. Even then the cost might be steep.

[Brian the Automator]

I suppose I could see Sabathia getting moved if the Indians fell way out of contention before the deadline, since it sounds like they're not going to be able to re-sign him. To get him, you'd probably have to give up Laporta.

[Roscoe Chill]

Yeah, I wouldn't word it if they need to acquire an "ace." I would word it, if they need to acquire a quality starter. And my answer would be Joe Blanton.

[bando1234]

I could see Livian Hernandez around the end of July if the Twins aew not in it. Maybe Migual Baustita , Jaime Moyer, or Jose Contreasa bit earlier.Although I would rather see Jeff Weaver pitch before them with the exception of Hernandez.

[dadofandrew]

CLE will be right in the race, so CC will not move.

 

Blanton would be a good guess.

[yoshii8]

I think if Rich Harden is healthy he is an ace and will be available, but he is a huge injury question mark.

[Big Reed]

I'd like Buerle or vazquez from the white sox. houston's oswalt may be available. pittsburg may have some servicable guys. i have to believe mussina is available. A j burnett? Mulder or carpenter?

 

None of these guys are going to come cheap.

[dadofandrew]

Buerhle just signed a long-term deal. I don't see Oswalt being dealt. NY only has 3 reliable SP's, they aren't trading one away. Mulder/Carpenter cannot pitch right now. Burnett's contract is a problem, I believe his option years are guaranteed if traded, or something along those lines.

 

However, the Pirates have several young guys, and are in massive rebuilding mode. They are possible, though unlikely. The A's 2 guys are better bets than any others mentioned thus far.

[Brewer Fever]

Don't the A's look like they might be in the race for awhile? That's why I excluded them. I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to them but I thought they started off pretty well.

[dadofandrew]

OAK looks to be overachieving a bit. Beane probably would not hesitate to deal even if they are a few games back, for that matter.

[PeaveyFury]

Blanton is a great call NDOG.

 

Also, the Dodgers have a ton of free-agent-to-be pitchers that would be really attractive if they don't ever get going this year and are actually willing to sell a bit- figuring that Lowe and Penny (who has an option for 09) are out of our range, someone like Esteban Loaiza could be a solid acquisition and reasonably cheap to get. Definitely not an 'ace' in any sense of the word, but probably both realistic and more in-line with what we'll be adding if we add.

[ShinyaSS]

There is another Japanese monster, Yu Darvish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Darvish

but he'll cost more than Matsuzaka...

[drezdn]

Could it be possible to pry one of the Giant's non-Zito pitchers from them? They're definitely in need of decent hitters, which is something we might be able to spare.

[Big Reed]

I n looking a t a fantas y magazine, I turned about 3 pages before i found a pitcher on a team i thought might be available.

 

the proble m wit h this yea r is tha t there appears to be a lot of parity, and i don't see teams wanting to unload their players because a lot of teams will still be in the hunt into September. O n a related note, i don't really wan t any of the remaining pitchers o n the twins and orioles' staff either.

 

I hear the crie from brewers fans that they want another ace pitcher. but in order to do so, the Brewers must be willing to take on either a lot of salary or be willing to give away an integral player. The orioles wanted Hart for Bedard. A lot of teams wanted Hart. Unfortunately, the brewers don't have an Adam Jones at AA or AAA in which to trade to acquire an ace. The guys with the most trade value all happen to already be on the brewers major league roster. other teams are going to be asking for Yo, hart, and parra. and if we trade one of these three for an expensive ace, are we really improving our team?

 

San francisco would probably be willing to trade one of their young pitchers if we offered hart. it would be a done deal. The same would be true of pittsburg or tampa bay.

 

if the brewers really wanted a veteran pitcher without giving up much in return, they are probably better served going after a guy named Zito or randy Johnson. I have to believe Zito has worn out his welcome and Sf no longer needs or wants him to make that one last pennant run. Guys like Contreras and Loaiza also come to mind.

 

To be frank, the middle of the season is not the time to go looking for another ace pitcher. because teams want somebody to replace what they are giving up. the time to acquire another ace pitcher was in the off season. Obviously, melvin liked the 8 starters he had over what was available on the market last Winter. So melvin stocked up on relievers. maybe this next off season, melvin will re-address the starter situataion. or maybe Yo, Carlos and manny will negate a need for a search.

[Nader Raider Tim]

The Giants are the team that I immediatly thought of. In the offseason they were rumored to be going after a Lincecum for Rios deal. If the Brewers called the Giants about Lincecum or Cain odds are the Giants would want/demand Corey Hart in return. Is that an amazing deal for the Brewers, probably not. Still it is probably debatable.

 

I would have to wonder if a deal of Hall and Laporta would be enough to entice the Giants to give up Lincecum. Hall could play 3rd or SS or 2nd for the Giants and be an immediate upgrade, and Laporta would their 1stbaseman for the next 10 years. Is that overpaying on the Brewers part? Most likely it is but when speaking in hypotheticals I would always try and undervalue Brewers and overvalue other teams players. I also am not sure on what kind of real value Hall has now that his contract in starting to rise.

 

The odds of an inseason trade with the Giants going down is sitting at about .0001%. Nonetheless it is fun to speculate.

 

edit: Big Reed beating me to the punch on Hart being what it would take to get Lincecum/Cain

[endaround]

Why the Hell would the Gaints want Hart? Yes Hart's great, but Ofers are much easier to develop than pitchers and Hart reaches arby next year. Thye Giants need multiple players not a trade based around one star who will be past his prime when the Giants finally get good.

[Brewtacular]

There is another Japanese monster, Yu Darvish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Darvish

but he'll cost more than Matsuzaka...

I agree Yu is gonna be very good and costly. I remember watching him on TV when he pitched in HS tournament. Dude is good. Since he is only 20/21 he probably has 5/6 yrs before he will posted.

 

 

[twobrewers]

Why the Hell would the Gaints want Hart? Yes Hart's great, but Ofers are much easier to develop than pitchers and Hart reaches arby next year.

For the same reason they pursued Alex Rios for Lincecum.

[DrWood]

aj burnett, if you are talking about a rental for the rest of the season.

[ILuvDaBush]

I've said this before and I'll say it again, it's only a rental if he pitches well this year. If he bombs or gets injured, we're on the hook for the remainder of his contract (2+years). I could see CC being "posted" this year but he'd probably cost as much as Bartolo Colon fetched, which would be comparable to.....Jeffress/Parra/LaPorta/Brewer. I would think if we wanted to expend that many resources on a pitcher, we would have been involved in the Dan Haren dealings, which there is no evidence at all that we were. Rich Harden, on the other hand, could be just the type of lottery ticket that would be highly conducive to our small market situation. His contract is easily absorbable and he's one of the few pitchers who can rival ANY team's ace when he's on....though I would imagine 14 months ago, the same things were said of the great Trojan, Mark Prior. If we weren't going to be wholly realistic, I would speculate King Felix would be a welcome addition, which I would go as far as offering Hart/Hardy/Parra. He's under team control for another 3 years, he's young, and he has perhaps the highest ceiling as a pitcher in the majors.

[Big Reed]

endaround. The Giants would easily accept fielder or bruan instead of hart. but i believe it's safe to say the brewers would not even think about trading fielder for cain or Linceum. and I believe it's safe to say the Giants are not stupid and would not accept guys like hardy or weeks or hall for cain or Linceum. additionally, it was pointed out the giants almost traded linceum for rios.

 

looking at the giants' outfield, bonds is no longer there. Dave roberts is older than greg oden looks! That's really old! So it would be natural to anticipate that the Giants might be interested in trading for an outfielder. Couple that with what melvin said over the Winter that almost every trade discussion he had involved teams asking for Hart.

 

Put all that together, and you can conclude any trade the brewers are involved in where they would acquire an ace pitcher is going to involve hart? Why? it's not because the brewers want to trade him. it's because other teams covet him! it stands to reason melvin is not going to just give Hart away for a Moyer or a Wakefield. but if he goes after a true ace pitcher ( not named Zito), it going to involve the brewers giving up hart. And I doubt that melvin is willing to do that. So the potential the brewers trading for an ace pitcher in the middle of the year is very close to zero.

[dlk9s]

I believe it's safe to say the Giants are not stupid

I don't know about that. Sabean is pretty damn stupid.

 

[endaround]

endaround. The Giants would easily accept fielder or bruan instead of hart. but i believe it's safe to say the brewers would not even think about trading fielder for cain or Linceum. and I believe it's safe to say the Giants are not stupid and would not accept guys like hardy or weeks or hall for cain or Linceum. additionally, it was pointed out the giants almost traded linceum for rios.

 

looking at the giants' outfield, bonds is no longer there. Dave roberts is older than greg oden looks! That's really old! So it would be natural to anticipate that the Giants might be interested in trading for an outfielder. Couple that with what melvin said over the Winter that almost every trade discussion he had involved teams asking for Hart.

 

Put all that together, and you can conclude any trade the brewers are involved in where they would acquire an ace pitcher is going to involve hart? Why? it's not because the brewers want to trade him. it's because other teams covet him! it stands to reason melvin is not going to just give Hart away for a Moyer or a Wakefield. but if he goes after a true ace pitcher ( not named Zito), it going to involve the brewers giving up hart. And I doubt that melvin is willing to do that. So the potential the brewers trading for an ace pitcher in the middle of the year is very close to zero.

Right the Giants need like 6 players. Hart for Linecum does nothing for them, Hart is about to enter arby afterall. They'll be looking for a Haren type deal after Sabean is fired if they are foolish enough to trade Linecum (I seriously doubt the Rios rumours).

 

[Gopher74]

Buerhle just signed a long-term deal. I don't see Oswalt being dealt. NY only has 3 reliable SP's, they aren't trading one away. Mulder/Carpenter cannot pitch right now. Burnett's contract is a problem, I believe his option years are guaranteed if traded, or something along those lines.

 

However, the Pirates have several young guys, and are in massive rebuilding mode. They are possible, though unlikely. The A's 2 guys are better bets than any others mentioned thus far.

Oswalt's supposedly on the market right now.

 

Mussina doesn't appear to be in their plans for this season once they get their ideal rotation figured out. I don't recall who it was that said it, Girardi or whoever, but they said that a rotation of Kennedy, Joba, Wang, Pettite and Hughes would be a good rotation for them. No Moose in there.

 

And Burnett's contract is not a problem. He holds the option, and I'd be thrilled if we could get him at his option numbers. He's a Sheets caliber pitcher in terms of stuff.