Who could we get for X?

[Hate those Rodents]

Yeah, he said something to the effect that you can get more for pitching during the season and that you can get more for hitting during the off-season.

[GB12]

If they did take one of them, we would get basically nothing in exchange

If we could get rid off Hall and his contract I'd take a pack of gum in return.

[Invader3K]

I guess that's a good point...if they could package Hall with Cameron right now, the cost savings for next year would be worth it.

 

I just don't see them trading Cameron though...they may look to try and re-sign him for next year, since Cain or whatever other potential CFs are still at least a year away, probably. And they won't be moving Weeks to CF either.

[endaround]

Its not like the free agent class is deep next year. The Brewers are only really looking pitching, catching and CF. Cameron is the best option in CF. Catching is the usual suspects. For pitching you have the talent but lack of innings of Harden and Bedard. You have Kelvim Escobar coming off an injury. You have Joel Pinero pitching out of his mind. And you have John Lackey who I don't see leaving LA but anything is possible.

[TheCrew07]

Why does it have to be a FA pitcher? Why not a prospect currently tearing up AA who's projectable?

[nate82]

Nate, as evident by this off season's rumors with Cam and the Yankees it's obvious we would not get much in return. I personally think he is a valuable asset but that doesn't mean a team will go out and drop a top prospect on him. We would be looking at a AAA with a salary filler at the most, again, as evident by what rumors we were hearing before the season.

First Swisher isn't a top prospect which I suggested the Yankees would probably trade straight up for Cameron their salaries nearly match and he is under control for a longer period of time. Swisher could play CF until Cain is ready and when Cain is ready Hart will be gone and Swisher can play RF. A Swisher for Cameron trade makes sense for both the Yankees and the Brewers. Swisher will be under control for the next couple of years at a reasonable rate and Cameron will bridge the gap until Jackson is ready.

[nate82]

Its not like the free agent class is deep next year. The Brewers are only really looking pitching, catching and CF. Cameron is the best option in CF. Catching is the usual suspects. For pitching you have the talent but lack of innings of Harden and Bedard. You have Kelvim Escobar coming off an injury. You have Joel Pinero pitching out of his mind. And you have John Lackey who I don't see leaving LA but anything is possible.

Snyder will be available in the off season or right now from the Diamondbacks. Snyder isn't that great of a defensive catcher but his bat is better than Kendalls or Riveras.

[endaround]

Why does it have to be a FA pitcher? Why not a prospect currently tearing up AA who's projectable?

 

The point was that removing Hall's contract really won't help that much because there just isn't that many places to spend the money anyway. Snyder would be an upgrade but he would likely want more years than the Brewers would want to give him.

[nate82]

The point was that removing Hall's contract really won't help that much because there just isn't that many places to spend the money anyway. Snyder would be an upgrade but he would likely want more years than the Brewers would want to give him.

Snyder is currently under contract with the Diamondbacks until 2011 with an option in 2012. If Melvin could somehow swing a deal for Snyder in the off season that would take him up to the end of 2011 when hopefully either Lucroy or Salome are ready to take over at the catchers spot in either 2011 or after that year. Snyder is only owed $10.5m over the next two years. This would be a perfect contract for the Brewers to take on and it shouldn't cost that many prospects in return since the Diamondbacks are looking to dump Snyder.

[endaround]

Sorry thought Snyder was a FA

[Hate those Rodents]

Salome deserves a shot next year, along with Rivera deserving more of a shot. Those should be our two catchers next year, with Lucroy filling Salome's void at AAA. If one of the two doesn't work out, then Lucroy replaces them in 2011. No reason to spend money on a catcher given what we have deserves a shot at the job(s).

[endaround]

Why does Salome deserve a shot? He's struggling mightily with both his bat and his glove. There isn't any reason to believe he'll be any better than a street FA at this point.

[Point Beer Is Best]

I thought about Snyder as well, but he's never played in more than 115 games in a season and is currently on the DL. His offense would be an improvement, but you would have to be comfortable with Rivera/Corporan getting about one-third of the starts behind the plate. I think his contract averages less than 5 mil per. It might be worth a look to see what it would take to get him.

 

EDIT: On the other hand, how has trading for Arizona's catchers worked for us in the past (Estrada, Moeller)? Obviously each case is different, but it's a disturbing trend.

[Hate those Rodents]

Please look at Salome's stats after May and tell me how badly Salome is struggling with his bat. There's got to be some stat out there to make him look bad from then on...

 

Money thinks he can be a good defensive catcher, and frankly I want Lucroy in AAA starting next year. I'd like to see Salome get a shot at the majors and determine with the big club just how horrendous he is with his glove. There's nothing that says Rivera doesn't need to play more/the majority of the games next year if he really isn't good enough at all defensively. I am ready for a bat at catcher again and he has one. Look at his stats the past two months and tell me otherwise.

[twobrewers]

He's struggling mightily with both his bat and his glove.

I wouldn't say Salome is "struggling mightily" with his bat. That is a gross overstatement.

 

He had a horrible April, great May, good June and so far a poor July. He also hasn't been playing much recently (like due to his back injury flaring up?) - which could explain the poor July.

 

We really haven't gotten many reports on his "glove" either. We have several quotes from Money that were less than complimentary - but Money thinks the Pope isn't Catholic enough.

[endaround]

Salome by month:

April 0.191 0.298 0.234

May 0.295 0.317 0.426

June 0.315 0.354 0.511

July 0.273 0.327 0.341

 

One good month in AAA doesn't mean we should waste a year of service time.

[TheCrew07]

Nor does him spending an extra make him more ready offensively... that would be a purely defensive move. Kendell's defense hasn't been good, his offense hasn't been good, and we have 2 C at AAA and AA respectively, we'll be getting young at that position.

[Hate those Rodents]

By all accounts his bat is ready, especially at the catcher position. And at that position, I am not sure which month beyond April is bad (again, for a catcher). I'd argue we're wasting service time on guys that aren't performing at all at the MLB level right now that have us in the position we are in. Service time is a double-edged sword. The odds of getting six quality years out of any guy is highly unlikely. Salome's bat plays next season, probably better than any alternative we have. He'd be a great option to have as one of our two catchers on the 25 man roster next season.

[fleehaw]

I'll play.

 

Hoffman to the Rays for Fernando Perez. He should be back from injury mid-Aug. He rides the bench for them, but he very well could be the answer in CF and leadoff for the Brewers.

 

Looper to the Phillies for Carlos Carrasco. That's a lot of value for Looper, but with the Phillies balking at Toronto's asking price for Halladay, Looper could be an option, especially with his history of relief work (the Phillies have quite a few injuries in their pen).

 

Cameron to whoever for a solid bullpen arm or decent prospect. Don't really have a specific on that one. Frankly, I'd keep him the rest of the season regardless of if they went 'sell' mode.

 

I'll add one more. Hardy to the Sox for Bard and a good to very good prospect.